Industry News

Bryan Waters is chief engineer at Cumulus Media Atlanta. After 25 years in broadcast radio, including 13 years in engineering, he says, “I learn something new every day.”

This article appeared in Radio World’s “Trends in Codecs and STLs for 2020” ebook

Radio World: How are design and performance of codecs for radio changing?
Bryan Waters: One of the more important trends I am seeing lately with codecs would really be on the STL side. You see more MPX codecs hitting the market, giving more flexibility to broadcasters who want their gear at the studios where it is accessible, but still want the sound of the composite output at the transmitter.

With most units giving built-in failover and/or multiple network interfaces, one piece of gear at a site can get you everything you need.

RW: How are these technologies being deployed to address problems in new ways?
Waters: Codecs have opened up the world for those “hard-to-reach sites,” the situations where you’d never get a STL shot but you’ve got internet.

With Atlanta’s ever-growing metro, a traditional 950 MHz link is not always possible. We deal with it by running GatesAir IPLink MPXp units as our primary STL system, using a mix of composite and AES running over fiber between five sites. With the web GUI, we are able to monitor everything from studio to transmitter site.

RW: What about broadcasting from home?
Waters: Codecs have kept the industry alive during our days of COVID-19 quarantine. From the standard Comrex and Tieline “remote gear” to online sites like CleanFeed.net, we’ve had to find ways to bring co-hosts together virtually, enabling them to still interact with the audience, without it sounding like a train wreck. Though occasionally …

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Ebooks Here]

RW: How powerful can codecs get?
Waters: I think the only limitation is our imagination. Where there is a need, there will always be a person building something bigger, better and stronger.

RW: What functions and features are being offered on new models that engineers who haven’t bought a codec or STL in a while should know about?
Waters: I don’t know if there is a function or feature that would stand out to me, as much as the stability of IP codec units now.

Eight to 10 years ago, an IP codec seemed like a good alternative for remote broadcasts; but the stability, along with a basic lack of network infrastructure, made it a less-than-optimal choice for STL. Today, whether the pipe is big or small, you have available options to get your audio delivered and sounding good.

The post Codecs Open Up “Hard-to-Reach” Sites appeared first on Radio World.

She’s had a career that includes a well-remembered role as Exec. VP of Programming for the former Nassau Broadcasting, where she oversaw all aspects of programming and digital content, strategy, marketing, and brand management for 75 stations including big regional Top 40 leader WPST-FM in Trenton, N.J.

In May 2019, she took a position assisting the programming team for two big Entercom Communications stations in the Big Apple.

Now, Michelle Stevens is heading to Miami to serve as Brand Manager for a pair of Entercom stations targeting adult listeners across South Florida.

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: Our editor-in-chief’s station of choice upon graduating college: WPST-FM, serving Trenton and Philadelphia. Congrats, Michelle, and bienvenidos a Miami.

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As Market President for an iHeartMedia group of stations, one works closely with the programming, business and sales teams and oversees the stations’ on-air and digital programming as well as create new revenue opportunities.

In Philadelphia, that role is going to an individual who has spent the last decade in the station group’s top sales role.

Taking the top role for a group of stations comprised of WDAS-AM “FOX Sports The Gambler” and Adult R&B WDAS-FM, WRFF-FM “ALT 104.5”, Top 40 WIOQ-FM “Q102”, Soft Adult Contemporary WISX-FM “106.1 The Breeze”, and Hip-Hop/R&B WUSL-FM “Power 99” is Jeff Moore.

Moore began his career as the Sales Manager for iHeartMedia Philadelphia 10 years ago, most recently serving as the Senior Vice President of Sales.

He will report to Scott Hopeck, Division President for iHeartMedia.

Moore began his career as the Sales Manager for iHeartMedia Philadelphia 10 years ago, rising to General Sales Manager and Regional Senior Vice President of Sales since then.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead this great team of successful sales and programming professionals in Philadelphia while representing some of the most iconic brands,” said Moore, a graduate of Temple University.. “My mission is to continue to build a winning culture that attracts the best talent and has a positive impact on our employees, brands and the community we serve.”

With Moore’s promotion, Chris Squire assumes his former SVP/Sales role. He will report to Moore. Squire previously served as General Sales Manager for Townsquare Media in Trenton, N.J., a group of stations heard across much of the Philadelphia market.

From 1989, Squire served as Station Manager for Adult R&B WDAS-FM. He would later hold roles at Radio One and at legendary Adult R&B station WBLS-FM in New York under Emmis Communications and its previous ownership, YMF Media and, before that, Inner City Broadcasting.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as the Senior Vice President of Sales for iHeartMedia Philadelphia,” said Squire, who is a NAB Leadership Training graduate. “To have the chance to work under a talented and inspiring leader like Jeff as well as a team of experienced and dedicated managers and account executives is a recipe for success.”

Hopeck added, “I’m thrilled to promote both Jeff and Chris. It’s especially rewarding to find the best candidates for key leadership roles within your own division. They’ve collaborated under the most difficult circumstances in 2020 and clearly demonstrated their creativity and resilience. I’m confident this duo will continue to lead our Philadelphia operation to new highs.”

Haystack TV‘s ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) streaming service focused on newscasts is widening its content by signing a distribution agreement with Bloomberg Media.

It increases the number of live streaming channels on Haystack News to 18.

This is in addition to newscasts from nearly 350 local, national and world TV news channels.

The agreement sees Haystack News add Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Quicktake to its recently launched portfolio of live viewing options.

Haystack News launched in November 2019 with ABC News Live and CBSN, in addition to Al Jazeera, Euronews, Newsmax, Yahoo Finance and a portfolio of live local news broadcast stations across the U.S. It enjoys partnerships with ABC Owned Television Stations, CBS Television Stations, Cox Media Group, Fox Television Stations, Gray Television, Hearst Television, Hubbard Broadcasting, Meredith Corporation, and The E.W. Scripps Co., among other broadcast TV station ownership groups.

“Bloomberg is very pleased to deepen our relationship with Haystack News via our 24/7 live networks, Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Quicktake,” said M. Scott Havens, Global Head of Digital and Media Distribution at Bloomberg Media. “New platforms such as Haystack News extend our reach and help Bloomberg be everywhere viewers look for the news they need.”

Haystack News is available on multiple platforms and all leading Smart TVs worldwide including the Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku streaming platforms; Hisense, LG, Samsung, Sony, TCL and Vizio Smart TVs; Android and iOS mobile devices; and online at www.haystack.tv.

What will radio’s future air chain look like? A newly announced session of the Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit on April 1 will explore that question.

“Building the Virtual Air Chain,” sponsored by RCS, will include panelists Roz Clark, who is senior director, radio engineering for Cox Media and chair of the Next Generation Architecture working group of the NAB Radio Technology Committee, and Alan Jurison, senior operations engineer, iHeartMedia Centralized Technical Operations and the chair of the Metadata Usage Working Group within the National Radio Systems Committee.

“Radio is adopting new technologies and practices from the information technology industry for its own success,” said Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane, who will moderate the discussion. “What will the infrastructure of the future look like — and will we even have one? How far will the industry go toward a ‘virtual air chain’?”

The summit, announced last week, is a free one-day virtual trade show where radio and pro audio professionals can learn about new products and technology and network with colleagues and manufacturers. Organizers reported strong initial registration after the announcement.

It is produced jointly by Mix magazine, Pro Sound News and Radio World.

The summit will feature a virtual exhibition floor, live chat and a separate track of presentations showcasing technologies and trends in pro audio.

The radio keynote session “Hybrid Radio & Android Automotive” will provide a look at two technology topics that affect how radio stations are heard in the car.

Registration for the event is open.

The post RW Tech Session to Explore Virtualization appeared first on Radio World.

Lots of folks sing in the shower. I happen not to — even the water would boo — but I bring it up because that’s where I do a lot of creative thinking.

There’s something about the steam and sound that allows my mind to drift. Wherever your happy place, plan on spending some quality time there because it seems that this pandemic isn’t leaving anytime soon.

To retain and even grow your audience during this time when lifestyle patterns and priorities are in flux, you’ve got to be in a good frame of mind.

I’d like to lay out what I believe to be a path toward engaging your audience. While I can’t solve this specifically for you, I’m hopeful that these thoughts will jumpstart your creativity during that proverbial time in the shower.

1 — What are musicians doing these days?

Many are writing, producing and recording, recording, recording.

A local duo that I follow in DC called MLEMON has done four full albums since last March. They are not alone in their creative output. There are artists in your back yard doing the same.

While the barrier to releasing new materials has never been lower, the ability to reach a big audience is especially challenging with shuttered venues everywhere. Radio to the rescue!

As a role model for this potential promotion, take a peek at NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts. Instead of performing on-site at the Tiny Desk, the norm for over a decade, musicians are recording at home.

NPR also conducted its annual Tiny Desk Contest this pandemic year, capturing over 6,000 entries. You can read the rules for yourself, but I’d like to point out that one fun requirement is that every video include a desk. There’s even a sponsor, State Farm.

Leading up to the winner, NPR featured many of the entries on-air and then followed up by making their winner a featured guest on “All Things Considered.”

Could you pull this off? Yes! This can be done locally and during the pandemic. It has the potential to create huge buzz in your social media, your local press, and TV newscasts.

2 — Next stop: Fashion.

We may be stuck at home, but most of us still gotta get dressed.

This headline from inStyle caught my eye: “How Will Kim Kardashian Dress Without Kanye West Controlling Her Closet?”

No matter what your format — it could even be talk or news — there are many listeners who are interested in or at least curious about this subject.

Also, fashion is something that can be done from home. Create a fashion contest with best-of categories, some of which could be pandemic-specific: masks, lightweight gloves, indoor shoes.

And where would we be in 2021 without Best Unmatched Top and Bottom for Zoom Calls?

Post pictures and videos on your social channels and/or website. Have judges and a Listeners’ Choice award. Could you find a local clothing store as a sponsor? Of course you can.

3 — It seems that animals are endemic to the pandemic.

If you’re not on a lot of Zoom calls, let me share that nearly every call I’m on features a pet’s enthusiastic greeting. While it’s usually dogs and cats, I have also met a talking bird named Buddy and the occasional fish or reptile. Do they distract on the calls? Yes, they do, and man, do people love that distraction.

Adopting or fostering shelter dogs and cats are a huge thing right now as people need companionship and many are isolated. You can easily become part of promoting pet adoption through this process already in place in your community.

You could bring back David Letterman’s timeless “Stupid Pet Tricks.” Of course, you could also do contesting around this one with winners for the best bark or mellowest meow. You could have awards for the prettiest and, yes, the ugliest. Ugly pets can most certainly be adorable just because they’re so strange-looking.

4 — Couples therapy!

What happens when those in committed relationships can’t escape each other because they’re trapped in the same apartment or house, month after month? The time has never been better for a late night call-in therapist who specializes in Just A Little Too Much Togetherness.

This has all the elements that make for compelling radio: comedy, tears, marriage, divorce and more. Don’t have a host? Hold live on-air auditions with therapists in your city and then have listeners vote on the winning host. Of course, they will be doing their show from home. It may even help the show if their spouse, kids or pets would interrupt the live broadcast once in a while!

Mark Lapidus is a veteran media and marketing executive. Email him at marklapidus1@gmail.com.

The post Engage With Listeners Stuck at Home appeared first on Radio World.

Our recent ebook “Console Tech 2021” explores how the physical and virtual surfaces that radio stations and online audio creators use are evolving.

Johan Boqvist is senior product manager, radio on-air at Lawo.

Radio World: Name a specific feature or option of your surface or GUI that you wish to highlight.

Johan Boqvist: Modern radio consoles are no longer standalone physical devices, but are steadily becoming a combination of physical and on-screen interfaces that complement and mirror each other. Lawo has led the way in this area with a software GUI called VisTool, which comes with every Lawo radio mixer, runs on Windows PCs and supports touchscreen controls. 

Lawo was one of the first companies to augment physical controls with virtual controls, which makes VisTool the most mature console GUI on the market.

RW: What makes it notable?

Boqvist: While every Lawo console comes with a basic version of VisTool, there’s an Unlimited version that allows users to completely customize the look, feel and layout of the control GUI with their own

layouts and graphics.

They can literally build a virtual console with it, complete with on-screen, touch-sensitive faders, rotary controls, meters, pushbuttons and more. VisTool can even integrate controls for studio peripherals, including playout systems, phones, codecs, video feeds and social media platforms, etc.

[Related: “How to Choose Your Next Radio Console”]

What makes this notable is that broadcasters have begun to use VisTool not only to control their consoles, but their entire studios. They’re building remote-control solutions with it, where a remote operator connected via IP has complete access to all studio equipment and can run it as if they were physically present in the studio. 

In these days of social distancing, this has proven to be a very in-demand solution, both for stations seeking to be prepared for emergency operation, and for remote talent working from home studios or other locations.

RW: What are other notable features available now in surfaces that may not have been a few years ago?

Boqvist: We’re seeing more and more automation features appearing in radio consoles.

Lawo has pioneered this, with things like AutoMix automatic group mixing and Autogain mic gain features, and also with the ability to set, save and recall settings, customized to individual talent, through the use of snapshots and motorized faders. Built-in touch-sensitive GUIs beginning to appear in radio consoles as well, a feature that was previously available only in large live-sound audio consoles like Lawo’s mc2 series.

RW: For someone who hasn’t bought a console recently, describe the level of “customization” available.

Boqvist: All Lawo radio products are customizable to meet every customer’s unique requirements and workflows. This means console configurations from two to 60 faders, with IP and/or baseband audio interfaces, redundant and non-redundant DSP cores, power distribution, network interfaces and protocols, and a number of DSP licenses and software add-ons to choose from, depending on the application.

The behavior, logic, functions and labels in the console and virtual extension are fully user configurable with the help of intuitive, use-to-use graphical editors and software. 

But if the customer doesn’t require custom configuration, Lawo radio consoles can be delivered with a standard configuration and pre-configured plug-and-play applications.

These standard configurations are frequently updated by our configuration experts based on user feedback and market requirements, to meet the requirements for the majority of radio installations. These standard configurations can also be used as baselines for Lawo’s engineering team to use when collaborating with clients to develop custom solutions.

RW: How many surfaces can an “engine” accommodate?

Boqvist: Great question! But there’s no set answer for every engine and every manufacturer; it depends upon the hardware used. Obviously, hardware with greater power and resources is better.

In Lawo’s case, we have been receiving more and more requests for shared and distributed DSP resources, and for good reason — this approach not only saves money, rack space and power (an environmentally friendly alternative), it makes possible many new options for sharing audio and logic between “logical consoles” and studios without external connections. Our solution is Power Core MAX, a license option for our Power Core DSP mixing engine, which is a 1RU device that’s one of the most powerful DSP devices ever made for broadcast. 

MAX is short for “Multiple Access,” and this license enables the Power Core device to host up to four consoles, either physical, virtual or any combination of the two. The current generation of hardware supports up to 60 faders and 96 parallel DSP channels. That’s more audio resources than a typical single radio application requires, but ideal for sharing those resources among multiple smaller control interfaces. 

Our clients tell us this is a perfect option for multiple consoles in a single studio, or for co-located studios in close proximity, since physical I/O can also be easily shared as well as control. 

Other applications are virtual remote studios with a shared core and DSP engine deployed in a datacenter, with audio connectivity over Ravenna/AES67. Power Core units already in the field can be easily upgraded to MAX functionality with a simple license upgrade.

RW: How will the role of physical surfaces change in the next five years?

Boqvist: Like the rest of the industry, Lawo clearly sees a trend towards more and more virtual consoles and interfaces. As pioneers in virtualization, first with the development of our VisTool graphical control interface, and then with our RƎLAY virtual mixing and routing software, we support this trend and have plenty of experience, having helped customers around the world to deploying virtual user interfaces for production and live broadcasting.

At the same time, customers still want modular physical consoles, very often in combination with virtual interfaces. While we believe that a virtual interface can’t completely replace a physical surface in every application, we think that modular and hybrid console combinations, with open APIs for software integration, are the future. 

This enables flexible deployments and solutions designed for a common and unified workflow across a number of different application scenarios. Lawo Product Management and R&D are working with our UX team and with our clients to develop some exciting products in this vein, which are scheduled for next year, with interfaces that bring modern design and consistent workflow patterns together to unify the overall user experience — whether clients choose physical consoles, virtual consoles or a mixture of both.

The post Console GUIs Get More Powerful appeared first on Radio World.

From our Who’s Buying What page: antenna maker Dielectric said consultant Hal Kneller specified DCR-T antennas for FM translators for AM stations WSRQ(AM) in Sarasota, Fla., and WMDD in Fajardo, P.R.

“WSRQ’s translator for 106.9 FM (W295BH) is part of a blended SFN and simulcasting network that synchronizes programming across four stations in the Sarasota/Bradenton market,” the company stated.

[Related: “Hybrid Synchronization in the Sunshine State”]

“In an effort to improve coverage the 250 W translator, previously located in Bradenton, was moved to Sarasota following FCC approval. While the move would establish a stronger signal with better building penetration, the existing ‘budget antenna’ had suffered recent water damage and would not suit the signal’s new directional pattern,” Dielectric wrote in a project summary.

“Kneller kept the station on the air with a backup system while the one-bay DCR-T antenna was installed on its new tower, which he described as ‘very busy and loaded.’ The compact DCR-T design was top-mounted on the 475-foot tower, using a tower pipe initially intended for cellular antennas. The top-mounted position, combined with the directional pattern designed for the translator, has substantially improved the translator’s effectiveness in the all-important Sarasota area.”

Kneller is using two Dielectric FM filters for the Sarasota transmitter building, with one feeding 106.9 MHz and the other feeding a system on 99.1 FM.

The WMDD system in Puerto Rico simulcasts the main AM signal on 106.5 MHz. The translator is 30 miles outside of San Juan; the translator is on the AM station’s 400-foot tower.

Send news for Who’s Buying What to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Kneller Chooses Dielectric DCT-Ts appeared first on Radio World.

Xperi has officially announced the renaming of its DTS Connected Radio hybrid radio platform as DTS AutoStage.

Radio World recently reported the change after the company did a “soft rollout” of the new name during the online CES show in January.

[Related: “Summit to Explore Hybrid Radio, Android Automotive”]

In a press release the company expanded on the reasons. Xperi said the move reflects “the broad application of the platform within automotive infotainment systems.”

DTS AutoStage recently launched in the Daimler MBUX infotainment system, so it is showing up in vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Xperi said the platform also won a 2021 Business Intelligence Group (BIG) Innovation Award.

“The rebrand to DTS AutoStage was in part driven by the opportunities resulting from Xperi’s merger with TiVo in June 2020, which enabled the integration of TiVo’s world-class music metadata and personalized content discovery engine,” according to a press release.

It said the branding represents the entertainment “stages” the platform offers as well as how it can “amplify those stages as in-cabin technology continues to evolve.”

Recently announced features include lyrics, content metadata and personalization capabilities.

Xperi said its partners now include Entercom, Beasley, Cox Radio, Bauer Media and Global Radio, as well as regional platforms FM World, Quu Interactive, Radio.com and RadioApp.

Hybrid radio systems combine over-the-air reception with an internet connection that delivers metadata and can allow “service following” in which a receiver switches automatically to a station’s stream when the car is out of the range of the broadcast signal.

The post Xperi Spotlights DTS AutoStage appeared first on Radio World.

UNESCO had set up a resource page for radio stations enhancing its World Radio Day, Feb. 13.

Available are videos, suggested supplemental activities for stations along with advertising materials. All the materials are copyright-free.

[Read: WRHU to Go Worldwide on February 12–14]

UNESCO has declared the 2021 World Radio Day theme to be “Evolution, Innovation, Connection.”

It also the 10th anniversary of WRD. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azouley issued a statement: “More than ever, we need this universal humanist medium, vector of freedom. Without radio, the right to information and freedom of expression and, with them, fundamental freedoms would be weakened, as would cultural diversity, since community radio stations are the voices of the voiceless.”

The post World Radio Day Resource Page Available appeared first on Radio World.