Industry News

The author is host of “Dan Sweeney’s One-Hit Wonders.”

AM/FM, low-power and internet radio stations increasingly are turning to an abundance of very good, no-cost, targeted programming to add “personality” to their format mix — including doo-wop, oldies, classic hits, variety and specialty. Passionate radio vets, former media execs, professors and retired enthusiasts all participate in creating fresh, new content as a “labor of love.”

“Not only has it been fun to promote, it’s created new and very loyal listeners,” says Zeb Navaro, general manager of KKSM(AM) in Oceanside, Calif.

Unlike podcasts, these shows are built specifically for over-the-air and internet linear radio operations that need to allow for IDs, commercials and local news break. Most syndicators have invested in jingles, logos, websites and content. New professionally built shows are distributed weekly. [For a list of low-cost/no-cost shows, see bottom.]

For example, my show, “Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders,” which recaps “one and done” music from 1955 through 2015, is distributed to about 60 stations in the United States, Canada, U.K, Germany and New Zealand. The 55-minute shows are free to air for affiliates, and I reserve two minutes for underwriting.

This niche program complements other syndicated shows and is frequently packaged into program blocks adjacent to local market content and random  music segments.

KKSM is licensed to the Palomar Community College District; it broadcasts on 1320 kHz and is located in the San Diego DMA. KKSM packages a “Super Saturday” lineup that includes my show along with “That Thing With Rich Appeal,” a classic Boss Radio format, on approximately 100 stations; Larry Kratka’s “Nothin’ But Old 45s,” telling back stories of old 45s, available on 40 stations; and Craig Orndorff’s “Seems Like Old Times,” featuring music from the 1940s through the 1960s, on almost 40 stations.

The lineup has increased stream numbers by 200% over the same period before the package was created and promoted. Navaro says, “No other station in the San Diego market is offering this programming.”

Mike Putnam, general manager of WMNB(LP) in North Adams, Mass., part of the Albany, N.Y., DMA, serves the listening area with extensive local/regional politics, talk shows and news. His variety format also includes several nationally syndicated shows that help build audiences and keeps them tuned in between the local content.

Asked why he carries the shows, Mike said, “The shows are entertaining, there is no cost to run them and I receive significant positive feedback from listeners. It’s unique programming with personality versus just music. Anyone can use Spotify for that.”

WQFB Surf 97.3 FM, an LPFM in the Daytona Beach DMA, has long embraced “no-cost” nationally syndicated programs as a way to keep expenses low and complement local programming. Vern Shank, the general manager, said most of the staff is made up of volunteers and that WQFB carries a fair amount of free syndicated programs with personality that complement its local shows.

Clear Communications WVLT(FM) Crusin’ 92.1 in Vineland, N.J., near Philadelphia added several free nationally syndicated shows as local DJs were confined at home because of COVID-19. Some may remain after the pandemic passes.

The balancing act between cost-cutting to protect an ever-shrinking financial margin and keeping listeners has intensified. Local radio content is still king. No-cost nationally syndicated programming goes a long way to reinforcing the needed personality of a station. If the syndicators can afford to produce and distribute quality content using creative monetary strategies including underwriting, merchandising and bartering, this could be a “win-win” strategy for stations and syndicators.

The author says “Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders” features unique stories about some 2,300 one-hit wonders, artists and songs including “where are they now” updates. The show was chosen “Best Community Volunteer Program” by the Intercollegiate Broadcast System in March. For info email  djsweeney.ds@gmail.com.

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Program Sampler

Here’s a selection of professionally produced syndicated shows worth considering, all at little or no cost:

Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders

That Thing with Rich Appel  https://www.thatthingshow.com/

Nothing But Old 45s, Larry Kratka

UK USA Rock n Soul Connection

Seems Like Old Times

Ken Michaels, “Every Little Thing”

Bart Shore’s Time Warp Radio

Greatest Hits USA

Dennis Mitchell’s Breakfast With the Beatles

Rockabilly N Blues Hour with James Riley

Music Expert Retro Countdown

Ryan Doran

Al Cocchi’s Saturday Nite Fever Classic Dance Party

Pat Gwinn at the Beach

The post No-cost Targeted Programming Is a Win-Win appeared first on Radio World.

Now available for the Omnia Volt audio processor is Version 2.0 of its software. The company says the V 2.0 includes things suggested by users.

The new version has a “revamped” preset collection. “Telos Alliance has combined constructive feedback, custom preset development for key customers, and creative input from worldwide power users in this latest version.” In addition eight wholly new presets have been created.

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

Also new is a port forwarding feature for local networks with multiple Volts engaged.

And for the international market, improved ITU-R BS.412 power limiting. According to the announcement, there are nine new or revised presets which “make the most of the allotted deviation without the audible artifacts sometimes heard with BS.412 limiters.”

SNMP is also now available for all versions of Volt.

Info: www.telosalliance.com

The post Telos Alliance Updates Omnia Volt appeared first on Radio World.

This is part of a Radio World series to celebrate early broadcasters as the industry prepares to note the 100th anniversary of what is, traditionally, considered the birth of modern commercial radio. This article was prepared with special assistance from Jim Hilliker.

In 1920, Fred Christian left his employment as a Marconi shipboard radio operator to become the manager of the Electric Lighting Supply Co. in Los Angeles. In addition to selling lighting fixtures, he began to offer the radio parts that tinkerers needed to build their own homemade radio sets.

From a back bedroom of his home, Christian also operated his 5 W amateur radio station, 6ADZ. On or about Sept. 10, 1920, he began broadcasting phonograph records borrowed from a local record store. Music transmission was not prohibited by amateur operators at that time, and dozens of hams around the country were broadcasting on informal schedules.

Christian, operating at the bottom of the ham bands on 200 meters (1500 kHz), was only the second radio station to broadcast in Los Angeles to that time. His aim was to promote the sale of radio parts in his store by giving his customers something to listen to.

The California Theatre
In 1920, there were still no fixed regulations governing broadcasting, and the first stations operated under a variety of license classes, such as amateur, experimental or “commercial land station.” (The renowned pioneer station KDKA debuted with a new category called “limited commercial” license under the call sign 8ZZ.)

But starting in December 1921, the Department of Commerce required all stations broadcasting news or entertainment to hold a “Limited Commercial” license, and so most of the handful of stations already broadcasting by that date obtained new licenses with new call signs.

By March of 1922, there were 66 such licenses issued. Regrettably, they were all required to transmit their programs on one of just two frequencies: 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment, or 485 meters (619 kHz) for market and weather reports.

Thus, Christian’s station 6ADZ acquired the call sign KGC, and it was now sharing a single frequency with about eight other broadcasters in the Los Angeles Basin. Those stations met periodically to agree on a shared operating schedule, and KGC was only able to operate a few hours a week.

In May of 1922, Christian made arrangements to broadcast live music from the California Theatre, a prominent silent movie house. He built a new 50 W transmitter (soon increased to 100 watts), and moved his entire operation into the theatre. The move necessitated a change in operating license, and he was assigned the new call sign, KNX, with the old KGC license being deleted shortly afterwards.

Christian’s was one of several stations that changed licenses that year, considered by the government then to simply be the transfer of a station from one license class to the other without an interruption in service. Both licenses were in the name of the Electric Lighting Supply Co., and Fred Christian was listed as the station manager and operator in both instances.

Calling itself “The California Theatre Radiophone,” KNX was now broadcasting live music four or five days a week, featuring Carli Elinor’s California Theatre Concert Orchestra and the music of the theatre’s organ. A nightly newscast was also featured.

But finances to support the station were limited; advertising was not yet condoned on broadcast stations, and so the entire operation was being supported by the sale of radio parts at the store.

“The Voice of Hollywood”
In October 1924, Christian sold KNX to Guy C. Earle, publisher of the Los Angeles Evening Express newspaper, who had the means to turn it into a first-class operation. Starting in 1923, stations that agreed to transmit with at least 500 watts and abstain from playing recordings were eligible for the new Class “B” license and their own dedicated frequency, so Earle bought a new Western Electric transmitter and moved KNX to 890 kHz.

KNX was now “The Voice of Hollywood” — on the air from morning to late night with sports, news, informational talks, drama by the “KNX Players” and live evening broadcasts by Abe Lyman’s Orchestra from the Hotel Ambassador.

Earle hired Carrie Preston Rittimeister to be his program director. She had experimented with paid programs at another Los Angeles station, and soon had KNX on a paying basis five nights each week.

The sponsors were local companies seeking name recognition, and there was a minimum of direct advertising in the programs themselves. By 1925, KNX was showing an operating profit of $25,000.
In 1929, Earle signed a five-year contract with Paramount Pictures, moving the KNX studios onto the Paramount movie lot. KNX was now the “Paramount-Express” station. Taking advantage of its Paramount connections, KNX became the first station to broadcast the Academy Awards in 1930.

In 1929, KNX was awarded 1050 kHz, one of two new clear channels the Federal Radio Commission had assigned to Southern California. A new 5,000 W transmitter plant was erected in Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley, and a star-studded 24-hour dedicatory program was planned for Nov. 11, at which time KNX would debut its new powerful signal for the first time.

When the dramatic moment came to switch over to the new transmitter, radio listeners heard only a tremendous screech on the new frequency, and then … silence! After a few moments, the old 1 kW transmitter was coaxed back onto the air.

It was several days before the engineers could sort out the problem and settle KNX into its new channel. Then they discovered another problem: The new 5,000 W signal was not being reaching out as well as the old signal.

Consulting engineers were brought in from across the country to puzzle over the case, and they eventually determined that the fault was in the antenna, a 179-foot wire cage suspended between two 250-foot supporting towers. The towers were resonating at the 1050 frequency, disrupting coverage. The problem was ultimately solved by inserting porcelain insulators at the base of the towers.

Guy Earle soon sold his interests in the Evening Express newspaper and devoted all of his energies to KNX, now operating as the Western Broadcasting Co. One of California’s renowned engineers, Kenneth Ormiston, went to work planning to increase power on the clear channel frequency — to 10,000 watts in 1932, to 25,000 in 1933 and finally to 50,000 watts in 1934. In all cases, the 1929 Western Electric 5,000-watt transmitter was used as a driver for the high-powered amplifiers built by Ormiston.

After WLW in Cincinnati was allowed to operate experimentally at 500 kW, plans were drawn up for a further increase to 250 kW, but the idea was abandoned in favor of a new half-wave self-supporting tower, constructed in 1935, which greatly increased signal strength at a fraction of the cost of a huge transmitter.

In 1935, Guy Earle bought the 20,000 square foot Motion Picture Hall of Fame building at 5939 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and rebuilt it into the new KNX studio building at a cost of $250,000. It featured six studios suspended on floating floors. Studio “A” was 30 x 60 feet, and Studio “B” featured a new $35,000 Morton organ. Brand new RCA studio equipment was installed throughout.

Enter CBS
KNX was now a powerhouse station, with a powerful signal covering eleven Western states a night. It’s 1935 gross income of $675,000 ranked it among the six highest-billing stations in the country.

But the FCC became aware that much of that revenue was coming from the advertising of patent medicines, which the commission was seeking to eliminate from the airwaves. It decided to make KNX into a test case, and it set its license renewal for hearing over its advertisement of Marmola, a miracle fat-reducing product that the Federal Trade Commission determined to be ineffective and dangerous.

The hearing in October 1935 did not go well, and the KNX license was now in serious jeopardy.
In 1936, under pressure over the license hearings, Earle sold KNX to the CBS network for $1.25 million. It was the highest price ever paid for a single radio station to that date.

KNX was now CBS’s key station on the West Coast, and would soon become the home base for CBS’s Hollywood program origination.

In January 1937, CBS moved its Los Angeles network affiliation to KNX from KHJ and the Don Lee network, which caused a major realignment of network affiliations up and down the West Coast. Then on April 30, 1938, KNX and CBS moved into its new $1.75 million Columbia Square studio complex at 6121 Sunset Boulevard.

It would be the origination location for dozens of CBS radio shows heard nationwide over the next decade, featuring stars such as Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Burns and Allen. (KMPC then moved into the former KNX Sunset Boulevard building.)

In September, 1938, CBS debuted a new KNX transmitter complex on a five-acre parcel in Torrance. A gleaming new RCA 50-D transmitter was showcased in a streamlined domed building that was open to the public for regular tours. A new 500-foot guyed tower propelled the KNX signal across all of the Western states in the evening hours. In March 1941, KNX moved to its present frequency of 1070 kHz after the nationwide NARBA treaty adjustment.

As network radio transitioned to the disc jockey era of the 1950s, KNX adopted a middle-of-the-road format, featuring personalities like Steve Allen and Bob Crane, who broadcast his popular KNX morning show from 1957 to 1965 before leaving to become the star of the TV series “Hogan’s Heroes.”

In September 1965, vandals cut a guy wire, destroying the KNX tower. The station operated from a 365-foot unused tower acquired from KFAC until a new antenna could be built. An experiment using both antennas as a directional array during the 1960s was abandoned, but both towers still exist today.

The 365-foot tower is now the KNX standby antenna, located inside a city park in Torrance.

In April 1968, KNX adopted an all-news format, which has successfully maintained it as one of the top ten news stations in the country. Entercom Communications acquired KNX in 2017 when it merged with CBS Radio. KNX will celebrate its 100th anniversary on Sept. 10, 2020.

John Schneider is a lifetime radio historian, author of two books and dozens of articles on the subject, and a Fellow of the California Historical Radio Society. He wrote here in April about Lee De Forest, and last winter about the centennial of KRJ, perhaps the first in the U.S. to achieve a century of continuous broadcast activity.

References & Further Reading
• KNX History, by Jim Hilliker
• Email from Jim Hilliker, 2/27/2020
• “Broadcasting Magazine,” 10/1/35, 3/1/35, 2/1/35,
• “Radio Digest,” October, 1924; November, 1924; May, 1925
• “Radio News,” March 1930
• “Department of Commerce, Radio Service Bulletin,” 6-30-21, 5-1-22, 6-1-22
• “Radio’s Version of ‘Who’s on First?’” by Jeff Miller
• “Los Angeles Times,” 6-12-22
• KNX AM, Wikipedia

View the images above at full resolution:

The post KNX, Los Angeles — A Centennial Station 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.

Public media is in soul-searching mode right now. Big organizations like WBUR, Houston Public Media and Minnesota Public Media have laid off scores of staff. The death of George Floyd and nationwide Black Lives Matter protests have sparked many prominent organizations to have their quinquennial (that’s “every five years,” nongrammar nerds) introspection about racial diversity. And the pandemic has pushed others to consider how to ensure noncommercial media’s existence for years to come.

The diversity conversation is of particular interest to me because, for one, to paraphrase something that became clear during my fellowship with the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, inclusion is a strategic decision for any organization, which relates back to sustainability. As well, as someone not white in noncommercial radio, I appreciate how diverse voices inform fuller conversations in media.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Rest in Peace]

Dozens of public media groups have made statements on racial equity in the last month. I respectfully submit that anyone pondering why public media has a diversity challenge may wish to try a little harder, because those answers are quite obvious.

Public media has a fundamental problem with its orientation. Just like chasing the big headline, there is a lot of focus on the top players. Making dominant voices the default can have disastrous effects. When the frame of reference is one in which the attention is on top-tier organizations and what they do, diverse voices will always be marginalized until the aforementioned every-five-years rolls around.

To be clear, some of the biggest organizations are doing wonderful work. But they and many others would concur this is a systemic, not individuated, matter. If this normalization of power is to stay the name of the game, let’s not suffer handwringing about why black, indigenous and people of color don’t stay.

In addition, a lot of attention is also paid to hiring and leadership, but very little to governance. All-white or virtually all-white public media staffing should have been addressed long ago, of course, but hasn’t in many organizations. A board that is white by 75% or more is something worthy of conversation. This issue is complicated by boards not making diversity and inclusion explicitly central to discussions with new board members. Boards and top staffing must be replaced with those who appreciate contemporary currents.

Finally, it does not take an internet sleuth to see all the latest words from everyone in public media about racial equity and Google what actions they have taken and demonstrable successes you can see from them in the last five years in pursuit of inclusion. What is their staffing and board diversity now, last year, or the year before? How are they investing in communities of color? Who glossed over diversity or accountability? What were they doing before these statements? Maybe you can set a calendar reminder to check up on them in 12 months, too.

In full transparency, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters has a strong record on these issues since our founding in 1975. We were conducting producers of color conferences in 1982; launched African-American, Latino and indigenous initiatives in subsequent years; have the most diverse board in public media; consistently diverse staffing for decades; and are working with stations now to not just talk about, but address these issues. We’ve worked on diversity, equity and inclusion for generations. I applaud any organization that can say the same.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are more than simply the right thing. They are a choice that organizations make to align with donor and community values, and to solidify their futures.

The post Community Broadcaster: Try Harder appeared first on Radio World.

Ryan Steelberg is the president of Veritone. Our interview with him originally appeared in the free Radio World eBook “AI Comes to Radio.”

Radio World: What is Veritone’s AI offering in radio?

Ryan Steelberg: Veritone’s suite of AI-powered services and applications enable both local radio stations and networks to significantly accelerate their workflows, save costs and deliver incremental value to their advertising customers.

Veritone turns media streams into indexed and searchable data in near real-time. With Veritone Discovery, users can easily search for keywords such as brand names or talent, perform fast ad verification, analyze content and leverage custom reports and dashboards.

Veritone Attribute gives broadcasters the ability to correlate ads (including prerecorded, live and in-program executions) with the advertiser’s website traffic. This award-winning application arms sales teams with comprehensive performance insights to share with their ad clients and help them optimize campaigns, nurture client relationships, and ultimately secure more share of ad spend.

RW: What prompted you to explore this? 

Steelberg: If there’s one industry that can take advantage of the power of AI, it’s media and entertainment. Considering the large amounts of data broadcasters and content owners have to manage on a daily basis, AI is a critical component to success — it not only reduces costs and time but also opens up opportunities for incremental revenue generation as well as product innovation.

Our AI-enabled technologies put linear media on a more level playing field with digital media, giving broadcasters the analytics, transparency, efficiency and immediacy they need to help their advertising customers measure media ROI and as a result, maintain share of wallet against digital alternatives.

RW: Does any of this constitute a first for the industry?

Steelberg: At Veritone, we unify substantial domain knowledge from previous successful companies and technologies (AdForce, 2CAN Media, dMarc, Google) with in-depth AI technology expertise and vision, all of which position us uniquely in the marketplace and give us competitive advantage — we are the first AI-native company in this industry.

Today, we are ingesting, indexing and analyzing over 60,000 hours of unique audio and video content each day. The scale of this processing, for audio and video, is a first in any industry.

RW: What do you allow radio professionals to do that they couldn’t before? 

Steelberg: Two things: One, Veritone radio customers can validate placements in near real-time, expediting the clearance process faster than ever before. Second, our radio customers are now able to compete with digital advertising alternatives by definitive attribution of e-commerce or other website transactions correlated to radio ad placements. To validate placements, sales teams can search on-air content within minutes of the broadcast and perform on-demand or automated searches to track any advertising message, whether live-read or prerecorded, through a simple user interface.

RW: Who are some of Veritone’s radio customers using AI?

Steelberg: iHeart, Learfield IMG College, Cox Media Group, Entercom, Cumulus Media, Beasley Media Group, Bell Media, CMG Radio.

RW: Where do you think AI for radio is going next? 

Steelberg: We believe that AI is already changing the game for radio today, and broadcasters who embrace AI technologies will reap tremendous opportunities and competitive advantage. However, we are convinced that this is just the start for an industry that will reinvent itself. We are excited to be part of this development and to help those who are ready to embark on this journey.

We just announced aiWARE’s expanded content classification capabilities, powering contextual ad placements and brand safety management at scale for podcasting. And also, our VeriAds program, which is helping broadcasters to liquidate unsold ad inventory and drive incremental revenue, is growing rapidly in the radio space.

The post AI Will Help the Industry Reinvent Itself appeared first on Radio World.

The Tonor TC-777 is an inexpensive multichannel USB cardioid pattern microphones mic package.

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

Tonor gives it a frequency response of 100 Hz–16 kHz and a 16-bit 44.1 kHz/48 kHz sample rate.

It ships with USB cable, foldable tripod mic stand with folding feet, mini shockmount, pop screen and a pop filter with its own clip.

Info: www.tonormic.com

The post Tonor Releases TC-777 USB Mic appeared first on Radio World.

From the Radio World “Who’s Buying What” page:

KNDE(FM) “Candy 95.1” in College Station, Texas, took delivery of a new Nautel GV5 FM transmitter last month.

According to Nautel, the project was initiated though Giesler Broadcasting Supply, a Nautel Factory Authorized Sales and Service partner in Alvin, Texas.

Ben Downs is the general manager and self-described “transmitter wrangler” for KNDE, which is part of Bryan Broadcasting. He told Nautel that the GV5 was purchased along with a new STL system to allow all of its HD channels to be broadcast.

The manufacturer quoted Downs as saying, “Past experiences have made us expect challenges from a digital install, but the GV5 made this even less a headache than some analog installs.”

He complimented the front-panel AUI that measures and displays operating aspects of the RF signal.

RW welcomes submissions for Who’s Buying What, from both buyers and sellers. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post KNDE Gets New Nautel FM Transmitter appeared first on Radio World.

The SiriusXM audio platform that includes hybrid radio capabilities will be available on the popular Ford F-150 model trucks. The two companies announced that SiriusXM with 360L will be available in 2021 F-150s.

Hybrid radio combines one-way over-the-air reception with streaming delivery and two-way data; in this case the OTA service is a satellite signal.

Broadcast companies too are interested in hybrid radio capabilities to keep competitive in the dash, and have been dealing with both technical and royalty questions, as we have reported.

[Read: “Hybrid Radio Picks Up Momentum”]

Among the hybrid radio benefits of the 360L system are On Demand functionality and personalized recommendations. SiriusXM also promotes “seamless navigation between satellite and streaming channels and SiriusXM On Demand content.” The system can receive over-the-air software updates as well.

Ford buyers and lessees get a trial subscription to SiriusXM’s All Access package. The audio platform will be integrated into Ford’s new SYNC 4 infotainment system.

Audi recently announced it would offer hybrid radio capable of receiving terrestrial analog and HD Radio signals, and it also will support the SiriusXM system in several models. Dodge Ram was the first to offer 360L in a 2019 model; and GM announced in December that it planned to bring 360L to a million cars in 2020. But Audi is believed to be the only system with hybrid radio capability that supports terrestrial FM radio as well.

The post Popular Ford Truck Gets SiriusXM Hybrid Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Supporters of a proposal to create a new class of FM in the United States say they will push ahead despite news reports this week that indicate FCC Chairman Ajit Pai doesn’t have the majority of support among FCC commissioners needed to launch a rulemaking process to advance the plan.

Chairman Pai, who in the past has advocated for the new class of service, made the disclosure during testimony Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, according to those familiar with the latest development.

The C4 proposal would allow Class A stations to upgrade their signal strength. Experts familiar with the proposal say existing Class A stations would double their power level from 6 kW to 12 kW if C4 is created, but the NAB and others worry that the move would create further interference challenges in the FM band.

[Read: Commentary: Buffer Compromise Would Boost FM Class C4]

The most recent development doesn’t surprise Matthew Wesolowski, CEO of SSR Communications Inc. He is licensee of WYAB(FM) in Flora, Miss., and was co-petitioner of the FM Class C4 petition for rulemaking (RM-11727) in 2014.

The FCC issued a Notice of Inquiry in 2018 (MB 18-184) to further examine the proposal, but comments collected at the time reflected trepidation by some broadcasters and industry experts over the potential for increased interference in the FM band, especially considering the proliferation of FM translators in this country. FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly is on the record as not supporting the C4 FM proposal.

Wesolowski says his C4 FM proposal has faced hurdles in Washington since the beginning.

“In February, 2018, when Chairman Pai announced that a FM Class C4 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would be forthcoming, I polled the media advisors of each of the commissioners to see where they stood. At the time, there were at least three votes in the affirmative to move forward on the NPRM, including from the chairman’s office itself,” Wesolowski says. “The Chairman did have a member of his own party coming out against the idea, so it is understandable that he did not want to rush something along without general agreement from his side of the aisle.

Since then Wesolowski says he and other C4 FM advocates have presented Pai and the commissioners with several alternatives and creative workarounds in an effort to win consensus, he said. “We believe that we have several acceptable proposals before the commission right now.”

One of those creative solutions might be waiver-based applications, Wesolowski says. Since 2018 three Class A FM stations have submitted waiver-based applications that would result in the same type of power upgrade sought by supporters of the C4 proceeding. One of the applications failed to gain FCC approval while the other two are still pending, he said.

However, Al Shuldiner, chief of the FCC’s Audio Division, told Radio World earlier this year that he does not view waivers “as a workable solution for something as significant as a new class of service.” He said at the time the FCC would continue to study the issue.

Wesolowski says the interference concerns voiced by the NAB and some of the major broadcast groups, specifically in regards to FM translators, are unfounded.

“Several large groups, relying on intuition instead of hard data, have posited that the FM Class C4 proposal would cause devastating effects to secondary services. The studies do not support that conclusion,” he said. “The FCC’s recent FM translator interference mitigation efforts and reporting standards have further diminished any potential for problems.”

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Wesolowski says many Class A broadcasters, hampered by their weak signals, are struggling in the current economic climate. “There are many small broadcasters who are barely hanging on these days and need the commission to approve the FM Class C4 proposal.”

The post C4 FM Proposal Stalls at FCC appeared first on Radio World.

I would like to thank Frank Karkota for the excellent article “No to Digital AM” and I have to agree with him 100%. AM radio works, it always works; neither rain nor sleet nor gloom of night makes it fail (with the exception of the daytimers).

I have a real hatred for digital RF. I am one of those people who live in a rural area, where we still use outside antennas for television. Back in the good old NTSC days we could watch all of the channels we could receive, some maybe a little snowy, but we could watch them all. Now with this digital stuff, only on the second Tuesday of the odd months when the moon is in its third quarter can we watch half as many stations because the audio and or video are constantly breaking up.

Now, digital FM. I put together a Class C HD station a few years ago. I can hear the very clean analog signal on a fair automobile radio in stereo up to about 50 miles from the transmitter, while the HD signal is gone in 15.

I am a volunteer fireman, have been for 50 years. Our county switched from analog to digital two-way. Well, let me say, if I go into a burning building, I won’t take a digital HT; they either work or they don’t, and in a hot fire scene, they don’t. The old analog HTs maybe get a little noisy; but if I am trapped inside, the analog radio will get me out.

Now that I have expounded on my distaste of digital RF, let’s go into AM. Frank hits the nail on the head: You can receive AM radio on anything. How many people remember the razor blade radio, it’s a crystal set but used a piece of graphite and a razor blade edge for a detector.

AM is simple, digital is overly complicated. The way things are going in this world, it might not be long before we are all hiding in foxholes trying to build an AM receiver.

Frank also mentions quality. I personally couldn’t care less if the radio station has a response from DC to light at .00000001% harmonic distortion and -125 dB S/N; if the programming sucks, I won’t listen, case closed. I would much prefer any AM  station that is programmed with what I want to hear, and don’t care if the response limit is 3 kHz with 10% distortion in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Radio listening is down not because it needs to be digital, it’s down because much of the programming is just plain bad. Everything voice tracked, no local personalities,very limited music rotation, dollar a holler 40 minute stop sets, it’s bad.

I gave up on most FM years ago although there still are a few good small-owner FMs around here in Iowa. The AMs for the most part dial up stuff on the old XDS receiver and walk away. So what’s the difference; make AM all digital and the programming will still stink. There have been some improvements in AM programming because of the FM translators, but the AMs just sound like automated FMs with nobody home.

I have to agree 100% with Frank, let’s keep at least one form of communications reliable: good old tried-and-true analog AM. With the newer receivers it sounds good and works. Maybe at night with the skywave it fades in and out, but it will never go to complete nothing, as when a digital data stream gets  the slightest glitch. It’s another case where “we built something now let’s force it down their throats to create a market.”

What’s wrong with Class B modulators and Class C RF amps anyway?

[Related: “Don’t Shrug Off Benefits of AM in Digital”]

The post Letter: AM Is Simple, Digital Is Overly Complicated appeared first on Radio World.