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The Federal Communications Commission has established new sponsorship ID requirements. They require U.S. radio and TV stations to disclose when foreign governments lease air time.

All four commissioners voted to approve.

“The order increases transparency, ensuring audiences are aware when a foreign government, or its representatives, uses the airwaves to persuade the American public,” the commission said in its announcement.

Now, when a broadcaster leases time, they will need to ask the “lessee” if they or their programming are from a foreign governmental entity.

“If the answer is yes, a sponsorship identification will need to be placed on air and documented in the station’s public file,” said Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

“If the answer is no, a broadcaster will need to independently verify the lessee using the Foreign Agent Registration Act website from the Department of Justice and the FCC’s semi-annual foreign media outlet reports.”

The National Association of Broadcasters was against the move in this form.

NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan blogged a few days ago that while the change is well-intended, it is too broad and would put a new substantial burden on broadcasters who enter into lease agreements with all program sources “to determine whether they are dealing with a foreign government in the first place.”

In his comments before the vote, Kaplan said “hundreds if not thousands” of stations would be “mandated to undertake steps to prove in advance they are not dealing with foreign governments, even when they each know with certainty they are not.”

He said there’s no evidence of a “groundswell of foreign propaganda” on the U.S. airwaves or that stations are confused about the origins of what they air. And he added that it’s unfair that broadcasters need to take such steps when foreign entities can communicate freely with Americans via social media.

But the FCC believes that foreign governmental entities are increasingly purchasing time on domestic broadcast stations.

Rosenworcel said, “We know that foreign entities are purchasing time on broadcast stations in markets across the country, including Chinese government-sponsored programming and Russian government-sponsored programming right here in our nation’s capital.”

She said this is not only a recent phenomenon.

“During the last several years, press reports about the presence of this programming have multiplied. Moreover, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo wrote this agency eight times to demand that it do something to shed light on the use of our airwaves by foreign government actors. Today’s decision is a testament to her perseverance. It is also a statement about national security and the preservation of our democratic values.”

Specifically, the order requires disclosure for broadcast programming aired through a leased airtime agreement sponsored by any entity or individual that is a foreign government, a foreign political party, an agent acting on behalf of such entities, or a U.S.-based foreign media outlet based on definitions drawn from the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 and the Communications Act of 1934.

The order also adopts a requirement that a station airing foreign government-provided programming pursuant to a lease agreement must include such disclosures in its Online Public Inspection File.

In a statement after the vote, NAB Senior Vice President of Communications Ann Marie Cumming emphasized that NAB “supports the FCC’s goal of ensuring that the public understands when it listens to or views programming supplied by foreign governmental entities” but wanted to avoid creating burdens “for the vast majority of broadcasters that do not air this content.”

“Even though we do not believe the commission ultimately achieved this aim, we greatly appreciate the efforts of Commissioners Carr and Simington to avoid undue regulatory burdens, and the efforts of the Media Bureau to constructively engage with us throughout this proceeding.”

The post FCC Approves Foreign Government ID Change appeared first on Radio World.

NEW YORK —  A syndicated service reported via Nielsen’s NPOWER audience insights platform has been launched.

Introducing Streaming Video Ratings from the nation’s dominant audience measurement and data analytics firm.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC has launched a proceeding to consider allowing Wireless Multi-Channel Audio Systems (WMAS) — an emerging wireless microphone technology that would enable more microphones per megahertz of spectrum.

It’s an efficiency the Commission believes “can greatly benefit music venues or convention centers with multiple performers or speakers.”

Television broadcasters should take note of this proposal.

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He was most recently the head of programming for Cumulus Media‘s Country WDRQ-FM and Hot Adult Contemporary WDVD-FM in Detroit, a role recently given to David Corey.

Now, he’s the Program Director for a pair of similarly formatted FM radio stations in the home market for SummitMedia.

Lance Tidwell has been placed in the PD chair for Country WZZK-FM and Hot AC WPYA-FM “Mix 97.3” in Birmingham.

“Lance is one of the best programmers in the nation and I am thrilled to have him join
our fantastic team,” said John Walker, President of Summit’s Birmingham station group. “He brings tremendous insight, skill, knowledge and forward-thinking, which makes him
perfectly suited to lead these amazing brands and digital assets into the future.”

Randy Chase, selected as SummitMedia’s EVP/Programming following the death of Bill Tanner, added, “Lance’s multi-format experience, strategic foundation and ability to drive ratings is exactly what WZZK and WPYA need.”

Tidwell’s experience includes roles as a manager for Cumulus Media’s seven stations in Kansas City. He has also been a SVP/Programming for iHeartMedia.

The move to Birmingham brings Tidwell back to his roots. “I grew up in 90 minutes from Birmingham in Alexander City, Alabama,” he says. “I’m excited how SummitMedia is growing in the market and to join a top-notch team focused on the future.”

Lance Tidwell was recently named 2021 Radio Ink’s Top 35 Country Radio Program Directors of the Year.

Was it a result of a failed geography lesson? Until now, Florida Public Radio has been the licensee of a 500-watt Class A poised to get a huge upgrade to 100kw Class C1 status.

It’s not in the Sunshine State. Rather, it’s in an area of rural Iowa to the southwest of Des Moines. And, it’s now being sold.

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RWEE has a new look but the same great content.

Keeping transmission lines dry, Larry Wilkins has some thoughts. What’s next with the C Band repack?

Burk Technology’s Peter Burk says planning an autonomous site starts with considering the measurable things that might signal a need for action.

And Cris Alexander takes a trip down Remote Control Memory Lane.

Radio World Engineering Extra provides a special deep dive into topics of interest specifically for radio broadcast engineers. It is edited by veteran DOE Cris Alexander.

Read it here.

The post Inside the April 21 Issue of RW Engineering Extra appeared first on Radio World.

This is the story of a station whose transmitter for two decades sat on an island — arguably the most famous such “island station,” WCBS 880.

The non-directional 50,000 watt powerhouse station, now owned by Audacy (the former Entercom), has been doing the demanding 24/7 format of news, sports and information for more than 50 years. At times it has been the nation’s most listened to station.

How did its transmitter end up on an island?

The saga of this flagship of the Columbia Broadcasting System started with the cigar business of Samuel Paley in the early 1920s. He owned a distribution company at a time when one of America’s growing male vices was a good cigar — or multiple cigars — a day. He dealt mainly with imports and focused on building brand recognition and brand loyalty to succeed in this emerging business.

Radio was “trending” at the time, the “new big thing.” Ad placement was the bailiwick of Sam’s son William Paley; they started using radio — ads and mentions — to get cigars into as many mouths as possible.

The power and the cost-effectiveness of radio piqued the younger Paley’s interest. Shortly thereafter the CBS epic began when he took over management of a nascent network of 16 stations, the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System.

In short order the Paley family and partners bought the operation. With 51 percent ownership, he ran and now controlled the network.

The file on WCBS starts with a different set of call letters. In 1924 the Atlantic Broadcasting Company applied for a New York station and got the apropos call of WABC. As with many stations of this period, WABC meandered around the dial until in 1932 it wound up on 860 kHz with 50 kW non-directional and a transmitter in Wayne, N.J.

The population of metropolitan New York was expanding along roads and transportation lanes into Brooklyn, via the famous bridge, and New Jersey, via the Holland Tunnel. Those demographic trends and travel corridors influenced the choice of new transmitter sites. Managers of other early stations serving New York City such as WOR and WEAF did likewise.

In 1936, CBS purchased the signal, adding to its station portfolio and distribution network.

In 1940 it sought to move the transmitter from New Jersey to what was then called Little Pea Island, located in lower Long Island Sound and northeast of Manhattan.

CBS bought the island and installed an aux transmitter for testing. The results demonstrated that the seawater conductivity would ensure formidable coverage in New York and New Jersey, and bonus extensive penetration into populous sections of Connecticut.

With the 1941 North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, the station moved from 860 to 880 kHz shortly before the final move.

Little Pea Island — later renamed Columbia Island — is a modest tidal rock of about one acre in size. It became home to an extraordinary engineering installation featuring a 410-foot self-supporting top-loaded tower. In 1941 two underwater cables brought power from New Rochelle to the site, and operations began.

News accounts said CBS spent approximately $500,000 (the equivalent of about $9 million now) to construct the tower, transmitter with backup and the building, including emergency housing for 10 workers.

A headline in the New York Times in October 1941 read: “Radio ‘Island’ Comes to Life; WABC’s New Transmitter Is Called an Engineering Dream — Built on a Man-Made Rock in Long Island Sound.”

Daily boat runs brought a change of operating crew, food, potable water and other creature comforts from the “mainland.” Weather and waves were not always cooperative. The bedrooms, kitchen and other quarters were put to use by stranded crews when circumstances isolated the site.

Federal Radio, a division of IT&T, built the transmitter from its own advanced design. Few details for this rig are available but Federal used it as a model for CBS’s later shortwave station further out Long Island.

Evidently this earlier, similar 50 kW unit was plate modulated. The high voltage supply took three-phase power direct from the power company at 4600 volts using banks of mercury vapor rectifier tubes to make DC. Filaments were transformer-powered unlike earlier motor generator schemes.

Jim Weldon of border blaster fame worked on the Columbia Island station as a Federal Radio engineer.

The official starting date was Oct. 18, 1941, with Kate Smith and Orson Welles, personalities well connected with CBS, participating in the inauguration.

In 1946 the company received approval to change the station call letters from WABC to WCBS.

Up until the late 1950s transmitters were operated on site by engineers who were on duty whenever the station was on air.

The station had a tremendous signal penetration and was the very definition of a “clear-channel, Class A station” that reached well into the heartland of America. Further, the saltwater location provided possibly an even bigger reach throughout the Atlantic, making it the voice of New York City to many far away at sea in war and the following peace.

Like other similar important big stations including WTIC and WCCO, WCBS during World War II had a guard detail to protect the facility from sabotage or disruption.

One story, legendary but probably true, is that in thick fog, the crew once found its way to the island by following the induction field created by the currents flowing in the underwater power cable.

Columbia Island provided a superb signal for CBS, but this rock was an expensive site to operate under any definition.

With the emergence of TV and the dropoff in network radio revenues, CBS explored locations nearby that were easier and more convenient to reach.

Eventually the corporate engineers settled on High Island just off the Bronx shore as a more practical site with a desirable land connection via a sandbar bridge.

After some delay and birthing pains, WCBS moved to that site in early 1962, where it remains today.

WNBC, 660, was diplexed into the tower shortly thereafter when crooner Perry Como decided he wanted the nearby site that NBC was developing for his New York City home! WNBC is now sister station WFAN 660. (It was this site that was knocked off the air by the fatal crash of a private airplane in 1967 on the day before WCBS launched its all-news format.)

Meanwhile, according to news accounts, Columbia Island was purchased by a show-business couple who aired a breakfast conversation show from their home there; then it went through multiple hands including the College of New Rochelle.

Actor Al Sutton eventually acquired it and built a “green” home on the site; you can find online stories about its construction, which is interesting in itself. At this writing, Zillow listed it for sale at $13 million. You can even take a video tour online.

But regrettably the 20-foot-square, 410-foot-high tower is long gone — regrettable, because for any resident the radio reception using that stick would have been extraordinary.

Broadcasting has often found some advantage or necessity to locate transmitter sites on islands. These islands vary from the isolated home of KUHB on frigid St. Paul Island in the  Bearing Sea to the defunct directional AM of WRIZ built on an island of pilings in Biscayne Bay in Florida.

If interested, we’ll visit some other islands in the stream in future columns. Please let us know your favorite or most engaging island station. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

Charles S. Fitch, P.E., is a longtime contributor whose articles about engineering and radio history are a popular recurring feature in Radio World.

The post WCBS: A Radio Island in the Stream appeared first on Radio World.

As people’s habits continue to evolve, with the pandemic accelerating those changes, Broadbeam Media conducted research that reevaluates, in a way, assumptions about the lifestyles and media habits of U.S. consumers.

Among the key finds is that linear TV – a.k.a. broadcast and cable channels – remains the most-often watched media. But, social video is close behind, and just behind that is YouTube and Facebook Watch. What does this mean for the broadcast TV station owner?

Broadbeam Director of Strategy and Research Tess Erickson offers up the answer, and more, in this RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.fm.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Tess Erickson, Broadbeam Media” on Spreaker.

The author is the director of engineering services for the Alabama Broadcasters Association and chairman of the Alabama SECC. He can be reached at lwilkins@al-ba.com.

The Alabama State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC) is expanding the state’s EAS satellite network from 31 to 48 downlinks. These are strategically located at stations around the state to provide the widest distribution of alerts. There is no cost to the stations in the network.

The system, designed by Global Security Systems (GSS Net) and funded by the Alabama Broadcasters Association, was installed in 2011 to improve redundancy and reduce the amount of “daisy-chain” relay points in the state. The cost of the expansion is being shared by the ABA and the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.

[Read: Stakeholders Comment on Amendments to EAS]

“When an impending hazard is an immediate threat to Alabamians, a reliable alert and warning system is a critical component of state preparedness and mitigation,” said Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Hastings. “Each opportunity we have to improve warning time and reliability is an opportunity to save lives and property.”

Satellite receivers located at the 48 stations communicate with EAS units via a multicast protocol. Stations are still required to monitor two separate legacy sources. Those with a downlink have four sources to receive tests and alerts: the two legacy monitor sources, GSS Net and IPAWS. The chance of all four being down at the same time is unlikely. Maintenance of the satellite network is managed by the SECC and funded by the ABA. All the stations with downlinks are listed as LP-1.

The network is fully CAP-enabled and includes a secure portal for alert origination by approved agencies. It also is interfaced with the IPAWS network and WEA, which increases redundancy. When a state agency issues an alert, it goes to all downlinks within five seconds. Other features of the origination protocol include sending a test or alert to the entire state or to select counties. This is important for local area alerts and counties around the state’s two nuclear power plants. Recorded audio files can be attached to the alert, eliminating text to speech conversion. The receivers also include audio ports which were utilized during the last National Periodic Test (NPT), relaying the audio from a Sirius/XM receiver feeding the satellite audio channel.

The functionality of the network is constantly evaluated by the SECC which monitors over 150 EAS units around state. While the SECC’s monitoring of receivers does not take the place of the FCC requirements concerning station logs and chief operators, the SECC chairman works with local engineers when an error is observed in their EAS equipment.

ABA President Sharon Tinsley addressed the association’s role in the EAS distribution network, “We view this as one of the most important services we provide stations. In this way, we help equip them to provide alerts to their communities while remaining in compliance with FCC rules. By maintaining and monitoring the distribution network, we can assure operators that alerts will get to their stations.”

The post Alabama Expands EAS Satellite Network appeared first on Radio World.

Congress is pushing the FCC for better emergency alerting in the United States and a review of public comments on the latest proposed improvements shows most stakeholders are focused on the ability of the system to repeat national alerts from the president or FEMA if necessary.

Changes are coming to EAS after the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act passed Congress earlier this year and mandated emergency alerting reforms in this country.

[Read: Changes Coming in National Alerting]

Several EAS equipment manufacturers support the commission’s efforts to simplify how national level emergency messages are repeated if necessary. The FCC has acknowledged requiring each EAS participant’s EAS equipment to repeat an alert automatically could present technical complications. Such an upgrade would require firmware or software updates to EAS decoders, EAS experts say.

Sage Alerting Systems agrees with the FCC’s approach in the proposal to repeating alerts: “Reminding originators that they can repeat or update any alert they issue by simply reissuing it, and not making changes to the existing EAS implementation. This greatly reduces the cost to all stakeholders that changes of this level to EAS would cause, and leaves control of repeating information in the hands of originators.”

The EAS equipment maker wrote in its comments that even if protocols are modified and new implementations are pushed into the field, any “automatic system of repetitions could make the overall system more fragile.” Sage continued: “If an errant repeating alert is issued, and the originator can’t issue a cancel, what is the method for removing such an alert, especially if issued via legacy EAS?”

Digital Alert Systems is another manufacturer that supports the manual message repeat approach suggested by the FCC: “Wherein an alert originator may choose to repeat an alert by interactively creating a new alert message is likely the simplest course of action to meet the objectives of the legislation. No modification to existing rules would be necessary.”

However, the EAS equipment manufacturer believes the FCC’s recommended approach would still “require substantial orientation and training among alert originators, and potentially commercial alert origination system providers, so that they may fully understand the features and limitations of each dissemination system.”

The only comments submitted by the National Association of Broadcasters are specifically aimed at the proposed mandate from Congress to allow repetition of EAS alerts for national security events.

“NAB appreciates the simplicity of [the FCC’s] approach. We recognize that the FCC could have proposed any number of more complex, prescriptive methods for implementing. However, the FCC has wisely struck upon an efficient proposal that fits within the existing regulatory scheme, leverages the current architecture of EAS, and is not expected to require costly upgrades to broadcasters’ existing EAS equipment and system,” the NAB wrote.

Another key facet of the NPRM is holding states more accountable for managing alerting infrastructure and how State Emergency Communications Committees (SECC) are structured. And whether those requirements should be adopted as part of the commission Part 11, EAS Rules. There are no current rules covering SECCs.

The Washington State SECC wrote on that topic: “It is true that the structure of SECCs is not uniform nationwide. It would be most helpful if this issue could be corrected. It also would be helpful if the commission’s rules clarified its scope of authority regarding enforcement of critical aspects of the state EAS Plans.”

In addition to more state oversight on emergency alerting, SECC committees would be required to meet at least once a year and submit an updated EAS plan annually, which would be accepted or rejected by the FCC. State plans, currently posted on the FCC website, would not be available to the public except for names and contact information for SECC chairs.

The FCC also invited comment on whether it should replace the WEA [Wireless Emergency Alert] system’s “Presidential Alert” with a “National Alert,” which is an alert mobile users cannot turn off.

REC Networks, a low-power FM advocate, pointed to the political divide in the United States as a good reason for the alert name change. “REC does support the name change of Presidential Alerts to National Alerts, as such a change would better represent the purpose of the alert as opposed to the originator of the alert,” the group wrote.

REC Networks continue: “Because we are now in a blue vs. red and us vs. them culture, the use of the term presidential can be seen as continuing to divide this nation, where the term national would remove any perceived political party influence out of the objective of such alerts, which is to inform and unite the nation. In this case, perception is important.”

Another proposed change would require jurisdictions to report false EAS or WEA alerts to the FCC Operations Center when they occur in order to help prevent future false alerts. One commenter expressed concern about potential backlash for doing so: “The FCC considers requiring FEMA administrators or state, tribal, local, or territorial entities report a false EAS activation or WEA alert when they become aware of such a message, whether or not they originated the message. However, there is no definition of what constitutes a false EAS activation or WEA alert,” wrote Adrienne Abbott, Nevada SECC chair.

Abbott cited several recent examples of false EAS activations in her state and concluded: “The FCC must also consider the impact of requiring an EAS participant to report a false activation to their regulatory agency and possibly running the risk of being fined for an action over which they have no control.”

The post Stakeholders Comment on Amendments to EAS appeared first on Radio World.