Industry News

MISHAWAKA, Ind. — In the summer of 2016, we launched our podcasting network to augment our growing linear and live streaming businesses. As our network grew, we had several opportunities to monetize our podcasting content with deeper sponsorships and requests to target ads across episodes and devices. While our existing podcasting solution was sufficient for basic functionality such as hosting multiple podcasts, organizing content by station, and uploading feeds to podcast directories, it lacked the advanced functionality to keep up with the growing popularity of podcasts and the associated demand from advertisers. Furthermore, our staff felt the existing monetization software was not intuitive or user-friendly and required complicated, manual ad insertion.

In 2019, after testing multiple alternate podcasting solutions, we decided to expand our relationship with our long-time media operations partner, WideOrbit. Their WO On Demand product could provide Federated Media the necessary advanced monetization functionality to scale our podcasting business immediately. Transitioning over to WO On Demand was simple because WO Streaming had been our live streaming platform for many years and, on the linear broadcast side of the business, WO Traffic was our system of record for some time.

[Read RW’s latest ebook on cybersecurity and studio disaster recovery]

Because our staff was already comfortable with the WideOrbit interface and workflow, training for WO On Demand was simple and quick. The workflow is a natural extension from WO Streaming for both our end users as well as our engineers. In addition, we have the flexibility to manage and monetize our content in many new ways. Today, we can offer: ad insertion for podcasts at the show, station or network levels; streamlined file management to update intros, promos and sponsorships; Dynamic station ID tag insertion for an enhanced listening experience; and “Broadcast-to-Podcast” ability to auto-create podcasts from previously recorded original content.

WideOrbit has been a trusted and reliable partner on many levels. They continue to evolve their products as the media landscape shifts and I’m looking forward to improvements such as repurposing on-air content into podcasts with separate dynamic ad insertion; adding an embeddable player for our website, blog and social media; and reducing ad load by optimizing ad placement and balancing with content.

For information, contact WideOrbit at 1-415-675-6700, Option 2, or visit www.wideorbit.com.

The post User Report: WideOrbit Provides Podcasting for Federated Media appeared first on Radio World.

We see it every few months: A headline that a radio group or station has been hit by the latest cyber attack.

What we don’t see are the emails that then fly out from radio CEOs to their IT and engineering teams: “How do we make sure this never happens to us?” The latest Radio World ebook is intended to help radio technologists answer that question.

Is your network adequately prepared to defend against cybersecurity incursions? Where are the vulnerable points in a broadcast radio and streaming operation? What has our industry learned from recent ransomware attacks on several large radio groups?

Also, more and more makers of critical radio content management systems are building cloud architectures or cloud backups into their designs. What should radio managers and engineers know about these new offerings?

Veteran broadcast IT and networking expert Wayne Pecena provides a primer on the subject. We interview Chris Tarr of Entercom about best practices for cyber and ransomware protection. Consultant Gary Kline provides a list of questions that smart managers should be asking themselves. RCS and ENCO provide their perspectives as suppliers of mission-critical station systems.  Read it here.

The post Cybersecurity and Studio Disaster Recovery appeared first on Radio World.

LONDON — The United Kingdom’s Radio TechCon Conference covered a diverse range of topics this year. Taking place on Monday Nov. 25 at the IET [Institution of Engineering and Technology] in Central London, individual sessions covered subjects, ranging from the strategic to the practical.

The audience at TechCon 2019. All photos: Radio TechCon/Vincent Lo

Supported by the IET and by various specialist broadcasting companies, including: Broadcast Bionics; Arqiva; Broadcast Radio; RCS; and Calrec, more than 100 people from the U.K. broadcast radio industry attended the event.

PERTINANT TOPICS

Over the years, Radio TechCon has developed a strong reputation for the range of content it offers and this year was no exception. From moving major broadcasting studio complexes, such as Virgin Radio, TalkSport and the famous BBC Maida Vale music studios, through to improving the user experience for broadcasters and coping with change in professional situations, there was something on offer for just about everyone.

Dr. Lawrie Hallett explains how to build an SS-DAB MUX to the audience.

Perhaps one of the most strategically important topic covered this year was that of platform development and the challenges and practical implications of delivering broadcast audio via IP and mobile platforms (5G), as these become increasingly important for listeners.

Broadcast delivery via IP delivery is, as one of the session presenters, Simon Mason, head of broadcast radio technology at Arqiva, points out, far more expensive than FM delivery, which in turn is similarly more expensive than equivalent DAB delivery. The core on-going difficultly for broadcasters is the need to deliver via multiple platforms, each with its own incremental costs.

Since the demise of the Sound Broadcasting Equipment Show (SBES), some years back, Radio TechCon has increased the number of trade stands open across the day and situated in the main refreshment area. These companies, including HHB; Vortex; and Luci were busy showing equipment and discussing services over lunch and between sessions.

ON SHOW

Dino Sofos, editor of Brexitcast (left) and Robin Pembrooke, director, content production systems, BBC speak about the ‘The Technology Behind Brexitcast.”

At least one company, Systembase, used Radio TechCon for the public launch of its latest product.  It has developed “SIPit  pro” to allow SIP compliant codecs from a variety of manufacturers to easily communicate with each other.

The product not only removes many of the networking issues associated with AoIP connectivity, but also it provides one-time configuration, such that a SIP configured device can be moved from location to location whilst still retaining the same fixed ID, rather like a roaming mobile phone.

As part of its remit to support the U.K. radio and audio industry, the company behind Radio TechCon (TBC Media Ltd.) also runs a master class for those potentially interested in a technically-based broadcasting career and organizes a bursary scheme for attendance of the main Radio TechCon event.

This year a wide range of industry organizations supported the various elements of the bursary scheme. These included Cleanfeed; Bauer Media; The UKRD Group and the European Broadcasting Union, along with further support from the main event sponsors.

With such wide-ranging support from across the U.K. radio broadcasting industry, and a sell-out full house, quite clearly Radio TechCon remains an essential event in the U.K. radio calendar.

The post Radio TechCon Talks Tech appeared first on Radio World.

Fraunhofer IIS has signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s Administrative Bureau of Radio Stations of the Chinese National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) to strengthen the cooperation for the advancement of Digital Radio Mondiale in mainland China

From left to right are Yanzhou Wang, NRTA radio division; Guido Leisker, Fraunhofer IIS; Guoqiang Li, NRTA radio division; Bernd Linz, Fraunhofer IIS; Lida Zhang, NRTA radio division; Frederik Nagel, Fraunhofer IIS; Binbin Luo, Deputy Director, NRTA radio division; Bernhard Grill, Director of Fraunhofer IIS; Marc Gayer, Fraunhofer IIS; Toni Fiedler, Fraunhofer IIS; Shanshan Fu, Fraunhofer IIS, Thimmaiah Kuppanda Ganapathy, Fraunhofer IIS. © Udo Rink – Fraunhofer IIS.

According to Fraunhofer IIS, the MoU, which was signed at its headquarters in Germany, is based on “long-term mutual trust established in previous collaborations, and aims to further develop the cooperation with regard to the open terrestrial DRM standard, including technologies substantially developed by Fraunhofer IIS, such as the xHE-AAC audio codec and the Journaline text service.”

In addition, it says, the two parties will intensify their exchange of information on DRM technology, work on jointly promoting DRM technology, hold workshops on DRM technology, and conduct field trials to successfully drive the deployment of DRM in China.

“This MoU will further strengthen the relationship of Fraunhofer IIS with China’s broadcasting organizations and help both parties to collaborate even more closely on setting up the digital transmission ecosystems in TV, radio and the internet, introducing standards that deploy technologies driven by Fraunhofer IIS,” said Toni Fiedler, general manager of Fraunhofer IIS China.

“A new generation of information technology for the development of the radio and TV industries has brought unprecedented, profound changes and serious challenges,” said Binbin Luo, deputy director of the NRTA’s radio division.

“To drive the industry forward, we focus on cutting-edge technology and promote the development of best-in-class core technologies in key standards. The cooperation with the world’s leading standard research institutions such as Fraunhofer IIS will ensure the deployment of reliable, future-proof technology in China’s digital radio ecosystems.”

The post Chinese Broadcasters Collaborate with Fraunhofer IIS appeared first on Radio World.

The author is communications manager for WorldDAB.

BRUSSELS — Addressing the audience at the WorldDAB General Assembly, VRT’s Paul Lembrechts acknowledged the changing nature of the radio industry in Europe, stating that the “digitization of the radio market is now a fact — it will replace the analog era in the foreseeable future.” He also highlighted VRT’s shifting focus toward DAB+ as the successor of FM.

Paul Lembrechts is CEO for VRT.

RTBF CEO Jean-Paul Philippot echoed this view, explaining RTBF’s vision of an alliance-like approach in which all industry players take an active part in digital distribution.

COOPERATION

Referring to cooperation on distribution and competition on content, Philippot stressed the market’s need for collaboration between public and commercial radio, the retail and automotive sectors, as well as international bodies and organisations such as WorldDAB and RadioPlayer Worldwide.

According to Philippot, this new “competitive cooperation” is what led to the creation of maRadio.be, a cooperative consortium bringing together RTBF and most of the private players, large and small, from the French-speaking Belgian radio sector. It also opened the doors to regular DAB+ services in French-speaking Belgium — a launch that was officialised and celebrated at the start of November.

Wallonia joins its Flemish counterpart in launching DAB+ digital radio, with VRT having done so at the end of 2018. Commenting on the current state of the radio industry in Flanders, Lembrechts highlighted the growing popularity of DAB+ among Flemish people, explaining that 55% of the population has already heard of DAB+ and 9% of all listening in Flanders happens on DAB+. This, he said, is three times more than when the technology was launched 12 months earlier.

According to Lembrechts, the increasing popularity of DAB+ in Flanders is primarily the result of good cooperation between the major Flemish radio stations and the Flemish government. But, he added, it’s also related to the general popularity of radio as a medium, pointing out that people in Flanders “listen to the radio for about 3 hours and 31 minutes a day.”

VRT’s CEO also stressed the importance of DAB+ in relation to the EECC directive, which requires new cars across the European Union to include digital radio capabilities from 2021 onward. According to Lembrechts,

Jean-Paul Philippot is CEO for RTBF.

NATIONWIDE SUPPORT

DAB+ in the car forms an important part of VRT’s digital radio strategy, given that 39% of the 600,000 new cars are already equipped with a DAB+ radio.

As for RTBF, the public broadcaster for Belgium’s French-speaking community has been a strong supporter of DAB+ for the past decade. RTBF currently operates two DAB+ layers, broadcasting a total of 25 DAB+ radio stations (11 public radios and 14 private networks, which is an exception in Europe) — 10 of which are only available on DAB+. The broadcaster’s mobile coverage stands at around 98% of the population.

On stage at the General Assembly, both CEOs stood side by side to reiterate the various benefits of DAB+ digital radio, placing particular emphasis on the wide range of content available on DAB+, the improved sound quality offered by the technology, and its subscription-free model.

As DAB+ in Belgium continues to develop and reach maturity, it’s clear that Belgium’s French and Dutch-speaking public broadcasters are making sure that listeners across the country are able to reap the benefits of DAB+ digital radio.

The post Belgium Unites in Driving DAB+ Forward appeared first on Radio World.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s decision on how to clear C-band spectrum for 5G is a partial victory for cable operators and broadcasters, who use that satellite spectrum to deliver their program networks, and a big smackdown for the satellite companies that provide those content delivery services.

Pai signaled on Nov. 18 that the agency would clear 280 megahertz of the midband spectrum (3.7–4.2 MHz) via an FCC auction. Cable operators are OK with that arrangement as long as they are compensated for moving to smaller spectrum quarters, namely the 200 megahertz left after the FCC creates a guard band of 20 megahertz to protect against interference.

[Read: NAB, Content Companies See Protection of C-Band Services as “Critical”]

Some cable operators would have preferred the FCC clear more spectrum. ACA Connects and Charter Communications had proposed clearing 370 megahertz, and ultimately perhaps all of it, with network delivery moving to fiber.

Broadcasters were OK with an FCC auction, too, as long as there was enough satellite spectrum left over for their networks. They diverge from cable interests on the issue of fiber delivery, saying that would be too risky given that an errant backhoe could do in their network programming feeds.

Comcast, with both cable and TV station interests, told the FCC that 300 megahertz was enough to clear and the rest must be preserved for future innovative video uses. In fact, it said the final order needed to have an “unqualified assurance” that the FCC would not try to clear more than that 300 megahertz.

FCC officials speaking on background confirmed their plan was to reserve the remaining 200 MHz for continued satellite delivery of incumbent programming services.

The FCC said the auction will be held by the end of 2020, but it will not vote on a final order until early next year, so there will be a race to come up with a framework for the auction before that time. FCC officials suggested the regulator’s experienced auction staff was up to the task.

The big loser in the announcement is the C-Band Alliance, a point FCC officials were not quiet about. CBA comprises the major satellite companies that will be giving up spectrum in the auction. They had pitched a private sale, saying that was the best and fastest way to free up the spectrum. Many in Congress had disagreed, arguing that the money from the spectrum should go to the U.S. Treasury to fund activities like rural broadband rollouts and emergency communications. The FCC appeared to agree with that logic.

In a background call with reporters, top FCC officials said that the CBA’s private sale approach would not bring spectrum to market in a fair and transparent way, and would instead facilitate backroom deals. Comcast concurred, telling the FCC “the clock has run out on seriously considering CBA’s approach.”

The FCC plan is to move directly to an order on the auction, which Pai said he expected to be voted by early next year, rather than a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) with additional time for public comment. But there will have to be an NPRM for the auction framework and specific rules.

 

The post C-Band Plan: Something For All, Except Satellite Ops 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.

It is the Thanksgiving holiday week, including Giving Tuesday, the biggest day for nonprofits in the United States. It is also the season we take time with our families, in however we define them, and give thanks for all we have received during the year.

Surely, 2019 has been a year of much commotion. National scandals, local elections and the personal triumphs and tribulations in our daily lives are part of our memories. Yet the end of November is that time when each of us looks beyond the troubling times to embrace the things that make our lives rich and fulfilling.

For me, loved ones, friends and family are endlessly appreciated each day. I’m thankful many of those individuals have come through various physical and emotional difficulties this year, and come out even better, all told.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: “Google, Play Me Community Radio”]

I am also thankful for community radio and my local nonprofit organizations.

Why should we be grateful for nonprofit organizations in our communities? I’m partial to Vu Le’s reflections on the importance of local nonprofits. “I often say that [a] nonprofit is like air, whereas other sectors are like food,” he writes. “People can see food, can taste it, so they value it and take pictures of it and put it on Instagram. The work that you do is often invisible, so most people do not see it, even as they benefit from it.”

Indeed, we sometimes overlook the many local nonprofits that beautify and fortify our cities and towns. Yet they’re still there, doing good works we appreciate. They educate our children, help hungry people, find homes for dogs and cats needing new families, clean up our parks, and countless other good works we sometimes never notice. They make us proud to live where we do, and ask little in return.

Like all nonprofits, noncommercial radio stations serve a vital educational and civic purpose. While our endeavors are more outward facing and thus more observable, radio too is almost invisible. Nevertheless, we serve our communities proudly and with empathy.

Radio is so much a part of our lives that we almost take it for granted. It is the soundtrack for our roadtrips. It is part of our happy childhood memories of being driven to our first day of school. Radio is there for those mornings and evenings we will never forget, even when we wish we could. Look no farther than the American Archive of Public Broadcasting’s public collection of recordings for a glance at the country’s time capsule. But the funny part? Radio is something we may just not notice, and yet it is there.

Community radio stations are something to be thankful for because they focus on radio as a medium with meaning. With missions devoted to championing music discovery, offering a gathering place for locals to share a space together, or serving as a broadcast platform for arts, culture and news, stations are devoted to public service first. In the advent of news deserts, community radio fills a vacuum in many communities. And, while you think about the many wonderful nonprofit organizations in your city, consider that community radio is the only nonprofit dedicated to broadcasting their efforts, in essence amplifying valued missions far beyond the walls of those beloved institutions.

Where else but on community radio and college radio is the experimental, iconoclastic spirit still alive and well in broadcast media? Who other than community radio station DJs are keeping alight the flame of freeform, courageous radio? This call-back to our imaginations and most rebellious selves may be one of the best reasons to be thankful for community radio.

While we take the time to appreciate our blessings, let us all give praise to the many community radio and college radio DJs, volunteers, staff members, donors and founders. Our nation owes them all a tip of the hat. A donation would be nice as well.

 

The post Community Broadcaster: Be Thankful for Community Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Closeup of custom audio console (designed by the author).

The author was director of engineering at Drake-Chenault Enterprises Inc. from 1974–1989.

A recent Tom Vernon article (“The Time Has Come to Talk of Many Things, of Reels and Carts and Carousels, and Automation Things,” Oct. 23, 2019) touched on the history of automation. At the invitation of Radio World, I’d like to share thoughts about my own experiences that readers may find interesting. 

Drake-Chenault Enterprises was a successful producer of music formats for automation, with about 300 clients stations across the country. The production of music programming tapes for automated radio stations at Drake-Chenault evolved into a highly regimented process that produced a polished, consistent product week after week, month after month. A typical automated broadcast station could be airing tapes that were anywhere from one week to one year old. There needed to be absolute consistency in programming, studio engineering and tape duplication in order for the final product to sound seamless on the air. 

Terry Tretta in Studio E.

In 1974, Drake-Chenault produced music tapes for several formats: XT-40 (Top-40), Hit Parade (AC), Solid Gold and Classic Gold (Oldies) and Great American Country. There were two “house announcers” who did the voicing for these formats. Billy Moore voiced XT-40, Hit Parade, Solid Gold and Classic Gold formats; Bob Kingsley voiced Great American Country. Once a week, Billy and Bob would come to the studios and record the voice tracks (VTs) for all the music reels to be produced that week. The music librarian would pull the LPs and 45s that were needed for each reel. The studio engineers would then mix the music from records with the VT tape to produce a finished master reel. The masters were recorded using 1-mil tape, so we got up to 90 minutes, usually 20–25 songs, on a 10-inch reel. 

ONE SECOND EARLY

Broadcast automation equipment of the ’60s and ’70s was usually limited to “easy listening” music formats, because the hardware of the era wasn’t capable of executing a tight, fast-paced pop music format. With easy listening, it was OK if there was some silence between songs; not so with Top-40! Top-40 needed tight segues, jingles, spots, time announce, weather and other elements in rapid succession. The problem was how to make an automation system run tight and quick?

The answer was developed by D-C: We put the 25 Hz “cue” tones at the end of each song one second early, so the automation equipment had a “one-second head start.” This would compensate for the start-up delay of the reel-to-reel playback decks, and yield tight segues without any “wow-in.” 

Closeup of a three-track mastering recorder.

The next challenge was to figure out how to put those inaudible 25 Hz tones at the end of each song, but precisely one second early. The answer will explain why we used multitrack mastering decks in the D-C studios.

Master tapes were recorded at 7.5 inches per second on custom three-track recorders. At the end of each song on the tape, a cue tone was recorded on a separate track. However, it wasn’t the usual 25 Hz cue tone and it wasn’t recorded one second early. It was a 1 kHz tone that was recorded in “real time,” i.e., at the logical segue point for the song, not one second early.

[Read more great articles from the Nov. 20 issue of Radio World]

Because this tone was audible (through a “cue” speaker) and was on a separate track, it was easy for the studio engineer to place it at the proper segue point, tight against the end of the song. The cue tone could be re-recorded as necessary until it’s placement was appropriate to the song ending. The one-second advance would happen when the master tape was duplicated. 

Custom three-track heads used on mastering recorders.

Drake-Chenault’s standards for technical quality were absolute, and our studio engineers were perfectionists. We carefully watched levels, double-checked cue tone placement, fixed fades and manually edited out tics and pops! The studio staff would spend hours with a razor blade removing tics, pops and other noises that were common on vinyl records. LP tracks were often used (after editing, to match the 45 “hit” version) because the quality of LP vinyl was usually superior to the poly-plastic used to press 45 rpm singles. 

To ensure technical consistency, a full set of Level, EQ and head alignment tones were recorded at the head and tail of each master tape. We went to great lengths to be sure that there was no phase error in the audio, which would cause a degraded signal when a stereo station was heard on a mono receiver. All audio was checked using a vectorscope to ascertain mono-compatibility. We would often discover phase error in 45s and LPs; it was corrected before transferring the audio to a master tape. The turntables were equipped with Shure V15 cartridges and Marantz “audiophile” preamps. The audio path was clean and direct, without any “house EQ” or level compression. Voice tracks were recorded using Shure SM7 microphones.

DUPLICATION

Once a master tape was produced, we made second-generation copies that were shipped to our client stations. 

Dan Musselman loads the Tape Duplicating System.

Tape duplication was done in-house, using 25 Technics RS1500 two-track recorders. The system ran “tails-out” so the audio was actually being recorded in reverse. A three-track master deck was used to play the master tape, which had left, right and cue channels. When the system sensed a 1 kHz cue tone on the master tape, it triggered the 25 Hz tone, which was injected into the left channel audio. When the 1 kHz master cue ended, the 25 Hz tone generator would stay on for one additional second, hence “stretching” the 25 Hz cue tone so it started exactly one second before the 1 kHz cue on the master. This one-second pre-roll was controlled electronically, so it was exact and consistent.

The duplicating system produced copies that were flat to 15 kHz, and typically had less than 30 degrees of phase error at 10 kHz. To achieve this level of quality, each “slave” recorder was hand-aligned to each new “pancake” of tape before the duplication process was started. The duplicating engineer would align the record head of each recorder for zero phase error. Then the master tape would be started and the duplication process would begin. After duplication, each tape copy’s alignment tones were checked on a special “QC” deck. We again verified level, stereo balance, EQ and phase (head alignment) before the tape was shipped. 

Drake-Chenault produced about 1,000 music format reels each week. In the 15 years I was there, we never missed a deadline! 

For more details, visit www.drakechenault.org and click on “Behind the Scenes in the Production Dept.”

 

The post How D-C Cranked Out All Those Tapes appeared first on Radio World.

Russian broadcasters took a deep dive into the realm of digital radio with a conference, “Digital Broadcasting Standard DRM: Results of the Experimental Zone and Development Prospects in the Russian Federation,” held in St. Petersburg on Nov. 18.

The conference featured a number of speakers who provided insights into where digital radio stands in Russia.

Victor Demyanovich Goreglyad is deputy director general of RTRS.

Viktor Demyanovich Goreglyda, deputy director general of RTRS, gave a presentation about the prospects of Digital Radio Mondiale in Russia, which he believes would work as the technology to switch the FM band to digital broadcasting. He specifically highlighted that using DRM will not created new digital channels while also allowing for the transmission of additional information.

RFmondial’s Albert Vaal had two reports that he gave to the conference, the first focused on reviewing the DRM standard and the second talked about the experiences other countries had in implementing the standard, like India and China.

Other speakers at the conference included Sergey Sokolov of Digital Systems LLC talking about the plan for transmitting part of the DRM Simulcast complex; Sergey Myshyanov from St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications shared the results from Russia’s experimental zone; Vasily Gerasimov of GPM Radio explained additional services are available with digital radio; and sound engineer Densi Davydov talked about the different approaches to multiband dynamic sound processing for analog and digital broadcasting.

In addition, Professor Alekseevich Kovalgin of SPbSUT shared info on sound data compression algorithms for digital broadcasting systems; Oleg Guminsky, a student at the school raised issue of market availability of DRM receivers; Igor Hvorvo, associate professor at ITMO University touched on regulatory support for digital broadcasting.

The conference also offered two demonstrations of digital radio broadcasting that compared the sound of FM and DRM formats.

The conference was organized by FSUE Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network, Digital Systems LLC and St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications.

The post DRM Front and Center at Russian Conference appeared first on Radio World.

John Schneider’s epic Radio Historian’s calendars are always a treat for radio aficionados.

His latest, the Radio Historian’s 2020 Calendar, is no exception. Perhaps the best ever, it is packed with colorized black and white photos of radio facilities, mostly studios and mostly pictures taken in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Highlights include the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, Orson Welles and Burns & Allen.

Also outstanding are facility pictures of Powel Crosley’s WLW and Edwin Armstrong’s New Jersey FM test site.

Not to be missed and it makes a great Christmas gift (assuming the intended hasn’t already beaten you to it!).

 

The post Radio History Calendar Available appeared first on Radio World.