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Licensee has requested the substitution of UHF channel 22 for VHF channel 7 in the DTV Table of Allotments

The owners of a Macy’s warehouse located on Gandy Blvd. midway between downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla., have moved forward with buying the neighboring property due east of the facility facing the Selmon Expressway.

It’s a multimillion-dollar deal. And, it will see the relocation of iHeartMedia’s radio stations serving the Tampa Bay region.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the company will pocket $3.8 million from the real estate deal for 4002 W. Gandy Blvd.

The iHeartMedia/Tampa station group is comprised of Top 40 WFLZ, once Jacor’s famed “Power Pig”; Adult Contemporary WMTX “Mix 100.7,” Rock WXTB-FM “98 Rock,” Country WFUS-FM “US 103.5,” Hip-Hop/R&B WBTP-FM 95.7 “The Beat,” Sports WDAE-AM and FM Translator W237CW, Talk WFLA-AM 970, “Impact Radio” WHNZ-AM, “Throwback Tampa Bay,” and Tropical WRUB-FM 106.5 in nearby Sarasota.

According to the Times, Hillsborough County property records indicate the iHeartMedia facility was sold on April 29 to LBA LVF VII XII Company LLC. It shares an Irvine, Calif. address with the buyers of a 39-acre Macy’s warehouse property just to the west of the iHeart facility.

The Macy’s property sold in late December 2020 for $32 million.

Xperi subsidiary DTS and Cumulus Media have reached a deal that will see the integration of the audio media company’s AM and FM radio stations into a “connected car infotainment platform.”

That would be DTS AutoStage — described by Xperi as a global hybrid radio platform that’s currently coming to market in the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class series of vehicles.

The DTS AutoStage platform is open and available to all broadcasters at no cost, at this time.

Cumulus SVP/Technology Conrad Trautmann notes, “DTS AutoStage is helping elevate radio into the connected car future, while enabling our radio stations to benefit from economies of scale and service simplification.”

Cumulus station metadata will be represented in the DTS AutoStage in-vehicle infotainment ecosystem.

Among the content partnerships DTS AutoStage has with major broadcast groups and aggregators around the world are BBC, Bauer, Global Radio, NPO, Audacy, Beasley, Cox Media, Commercial Radio Australia, radiko, FM World, and Germany’s SWR.

With Urban One stock exploding in value on Thursday, it was only natural that some investors may want to cash out and enjoy a handsome profit.

That’s exactly what transpired on Friday, as UONE went on a wild ride that saw shares jump and quickly recede, leading to a 13% dip for the day.

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A Chicago-based live and virtual event production company is the latest company to have adopted a “go to” solution for connecting remote presenters into virtual events.

It’s technology that broadcast TV executives may wish to consider for their own operations.

Signature Production Group is using Quicklink Studio and Quicklink ST102’s tools, provided to them through Key Code Media, a U.S.-based systems integrator for A/V, broadcast, and post-production solutions.

Joel Paige, General Manager of Signature Production Group, comments, “At first, it looked like the product we were looking for didn’t exist due to our simultaneous use of NDI video and Dante audio. But the Quicklink developers stepped up and customized a solution that fit our workflow perfectly. The collaborative relationship between our companies has been a big part of the key to the success we’ve had with the Quicklink solutions.”

For more information on Quicklink ST55 click here, and for more information on Quicklink’s ST102, click here.

Cumulus Media is giving all-digital AM a go by launching Digital AM 1230 HD WFAS(AM) in White Plains, N.Y., on Monday. The station is just north of New York City and can be heard in the northern suburbs of what is the top media market in the United States.

The 1,000 watt AM station, which is also changing to an all-news/talk format on Monday, has been informing listeners of the pending change on its website. Once WFAS switches to all-digital operations, only radios equipped with HD Radio technology will be able to receive the radio station. WFAS will no longer be available on analog-only radio, according to its website.

[Read: Cumulus Stations Support DTS AutoStage]

Conrad Trautmann, SVP, technology and operations for Cumulus Media, led the all-digital conversion process for the broadcaster and said a lot of technical consideration went into the project beginning with the existing tower.

“In order to run digital bandwidth through an AM antenna you need the antenna optimized. We worked with Carl T. Jones [a consulting engineering firm] to redesign the existing antenna so it would support running IBOC HD Radio,” Trautmann said.

The WFAS antenna is a “folded unipole, so it’s a grounded 450-foot tower with a skirt and the skirt stood 16 inches off the tower,” Trautmann said. “However, the modeling we did showed the skirt had to be 36 inches off the tower. That meant buying all the components and parts to stand it off further.”

It was also determined the tuning network in the antenna tuning unit was no longer usable for the broadband signal, he said, and had to be redesigned. “We ordered all the parts from Kintronic. We basically rebuilt the ATU at the base of the tower.”

The all-digital station will use a new Nautel NX3 all-digital transmitter and a Telos Omnia.9 audio processor with HD output, Trautmann said.

Cumulus engineering staff spent part of last week testing the all-digital signal and was “very satisfied with the results,” Trautmann says. The station’s website has been advising listeners of the coming changes and touting the advantages of all-digital AM: “Broadcasting in digital can eliminate static and interference and improve sound quality to equal FM radio. In addition, it can extend the range for clear AM reception.”

[Read: WWFD Conducts More HD2 Testing]

“In analog we typically had about 15 miles of Grade A signal, or city grade signal. WFAS is only 1,000 watts. On the drive testing we did with the all-digital signal it is solid all to the way 25-mile mark. So it seems we have added 10 miles of radius to the signal, which results in quite a bit of population coverage in the northern suburbs of New York City,” Trautmann says.

That increased signal reach will mean more penetration into the Bronx and Queens and the northern tip of Manhattan, he said, “but it’s by no means a New York City signal.” In addition, the test signal sounded like FM, Trautmann says, with “all the lows and highs. And it’s louder on the dial than the other AMs.”

The radio station is telling listeners they can find the station on Monday using an HD Radio-capable receiver, using the online stream or via its mobile app on a tablet or smartphone.

Trautmann, who had help on the project from Bud Williamson from Digital Radio Engineering, says Cumulus had been looking for a good candidate to experiment with all-digital AM and WFAS was chosen since it “wasn’t getting any ratings and not generating much revenue.”

WFAS featured the CBS Sports Radio Network prior to its Monday launch of all-digital. The station will now offer all talk programming, including “The Dan Bongino Show,” which debuts Monday on the Cumulus owned Westwood One.

Trautmann says Cumulus wants to see how WFAS performs before it commits to any more all-digital AM conversions. The project does coincide with Thursday’s announcement that Cumulus is partnering with Xperi’s DTS AutoStage connected car platform. The broadcaster says it will integrate its 415 radio stations into the hybrid radio system available on Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles.

[Read: Sweeten the Pot to Entice AM Digital]

“We are really hoping to see if the hybrid radio component of this becomes beneficial. If we get people to tune in and then when they get out of signal range have the car radio switch to the stream then we can demonstrate how AM radio can sound as good as any other platform. The switching from the over the air to the stream is really critical for that,” Trautmann said.

WFAS appears to be the third radio station in the country to convert to all-digital AM since the FCC authorized AM radio stations to do so. WWFD(AM) in Frederick, Md., and WMGG(AM) in Tampa, Fla., are the others.

 

The post New York Cumulus AM to Go All-Digital appeared first on Radio World.

… and the Catz, too.

Meredith, who gained full control of Powell Meredith Communications Company in a 2009 divorce settlement, is selling a 40-watt FM translator serving an Arizona community to the northwest of Phoenix.

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A longtime public radio leader who served as President and GM of North Carolina Public Radio has passed away.

She had been on medical leave since February. However, details about the cause of death were not shared by the family.

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The Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance is hosting a virtual summit next week that will bring together broadcasters and other private sector players with the nation’s largest alerting authorities to discuss next generation emergency messaging.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON TWITTER!

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It seems the creditors to the regional sports networks owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group that recently took on the Bally Sports brand through a wide-ranging integrated partnership with the gaming company are in the process of signing non-disclosure agreements to start talks on lowering the RSN’s $8 billion debt load.

That’s according to “people with knowledge of the matter” who spoke with two Bloomberg reporters on Friday.

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The 415 radio stations owned by Cumulus Media, one of the biggest U.S. commercial ownership groups, are now integrated into the DTS AutoStage connected car platform.

DTS AutoStage is a hybrid radio system that Xperi Corp. is positioning as a global platform, supporting operations in 60 countries so far. As we’ve reported, the system is coming to market in the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

[Read: Xperi Has Big Ambitions for DTS AutoStage]

Other U.S. groups participating include Audacy, Beasley and Cox. International broadcasters onboard so far include BBC, Bauer, Global Radio, NPO, Commercial Radio Australia, radiko, FM World and SWR.

The Cumulus agreement was announced by Xperi Senior Vice President, Business Development, Broadcast Joe D’Angelo and Cumulus SVP, Technology Conrad Trautmann.

Trautmann was quoted saying that the user interface provides listeners with “the most cutting-edge features in the dashboard of any automobile.” He highlighted the service-following feature of hybrid radio that “essentially makes the coverage area of our radio station’s signals limitless,” with streamed content serving listeners who move out of a station’s signal coverage.

Broadcasters can participate in the program at no cost. Station metadata is represented to the listener through artwork, artist and album info, songs, playlists, station logos and other features. The system also provides discovery and personalization features.

 

The post Cumulus Stations Support DTS AutoStage appeared first on Radio World.

Esteemed GroupM Global President of Business Intelligence Brian Wieser has singled out three key areas that have been transformed the most for his firms clients over the past months.

While e-commerce and “responsible investing” are two of these areas, it is the third — linear and Connected TV — that deserve the industry’s attention.

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Avantone Pro is launching Gauss 7, an active full-range, two-way reference monitor that aims to evoke a vintage sound with the addition of modern technologies. Cetex Gauss, based out of Sun Valley, Calif., was best-known for its tape duplication equipment, but its short-lived speaker brand of the early 1970s is being used as a jumping-off point for the new line.

The Gauss 7 features a 2.5-inch (65 mm) GAU-AMT aluminum-etched PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film-folded membrane high-frequency driver that offers a response up to 22 kHz. The assembly is mounted in its own enclosure to avoid back wave pressure from the woofer.

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

Woofer-wise, the Gauss 7 includes a 7-inch (178 mm) ferrite motor GAU-7MLF low-frequency driver. It draws from Avantone Pro’s AV10-MLF “white cone” construction. The woofer cone is a pressed design, fabricated from the same proprietary blend of wood pulp and glass fiber found in the AV10-MLF woofer, but with increased materials providing extended low end. The woofer’s motor structure is made of low-carbon 1008 steel.

The rear-firing passive bass port gives the Gauss 7 a “controlled yet punchy low end with a tight response,” the company.

On the power front, there is a 120 W power amplifier for the low-frequency driver and 60 W high-frequency driver amplifier power. Specs include 103 dB (peak) SPL; and 0.5% THL delivered from an enclosure measuring 381 mm (15 inches) H x 235 mm (9.25 inches) W x 212 mm (8.35 inches) D. Weight is 18 pounds.

It also includes balanced XLR and 1/4-inch TRS inputs, plus a three-position “acoustic placement” switch, a three-position high trim switch and a gain control.

Gauss 7 will be shipping in early June for $799 per pair.

Info: www.avantonepro.com

 

The post Avantone Pro Introduces Gauss 7 Studio Monitors appeared first on Radio World.

Getty Images/Madans Click

Occasionally we query Workbench readers as to the most useful piece of test equipment; the cellphone camera usually wins out.

Dan Gunter is the owner and principal broadcast engineer of Alabama Broadcast Services LLC. He shares photographic proof of the immense value of a phone camera, not only for documentation purposes but as a tool in troubleshooting.

One of Dan’s client stations recently experience a mysterious trip of the 100 amp AC circuit breaker that fed the high-voltage power supply (HVPS) on a Harris HT25FM transmitter. Unfortunately Dan was out of town that day, as was his backup colleague Terry Harper.

Thus it was the station’s chief operator/assistant GM who wound up running over to the site. With instructions from Dan he reset the tripped breaker, which got the transmitter back on the air without a breaker re-trip.

Dan had experienced a similar off-air trip with another of that client’s transmitters, a problem that kept occurring sporadically. This was resolved by giving the arc gap in the HVPS some much needed attention — cleaning and re-spacing the gap per the manufacturer’s specifications.

Because that had worked earlier, Dan decided to do a “wee hours of the morning” shutdown on the trouble transmitter and check the arc gap. He found that it was at 0.3745 inches, nearly twice the recommended setting of 0.1875.

Only the camera knows what’s hiding behind these power supply components.

As pictured above, Dan noticed that the HVPS had a considerable amount of dust and debris, so he decided it was time for a thorough inspection and good vacuuming. After turning off all AC breakers and discharging the components, Dan set out to work.

Unfortunately, there are some places you simply can’t see without spending another half hour or more to remove the rear cover from the power supply, such as behind the transformer, choke and filter capacitor. Dan’s solution was to use his phone’s camera to shoot photos in the hidden crannies.

And that’s when he found the little problem seen here:

In case it isn’t clear what’s amiss, the image below offers a closer view behind the capacitor.

Dan says he doubts this was a factory-installed part.

Apparently, this rat snake had managed to crawl into the power supply through a gap at the lower left corner of an ill-fitting front cover on the cabinet. Dan suspects the critter managed to slither across a couple of wrong points in the HVPS and had a really bad day, also tripping the breaker.

Rat snake or not, Nautel’s Jeff Welton calls them all “rattle-headed copper moccasins.” And they don’t belong in transmitters.

Dan sent the assistant GM photos of his findings and work; he also put the dearly departed critter in a box, labeled it and placed it on the desk in the transmitter building, where the manager could inspect the evidence first-hand and dispose of it as he wished. (Let it not be said that Dan takes things from client sites without their approval.)

Dan visited the site a few weeks later and the box was still sitting on the desk, unopened. Imagine that!

As an engineer, you see a lot of strange things. Take pictures of these encounters to help management understand your value.

At one station where I was chief, I put a small bulletin board in the station lunchroom, and posted a “Picture of the Week.” from my site visits. Try it and see the reaction.

Shine a light on it

Like many engineers, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve required more “light” to see details like the numbers on a chip or a resistor color code.

Here is a flexible LED garage light, a replacement “bulb” that actually consists of three adjustable panels and screws into a standard light socket above my garage workbench, throwing off 6,000 Lumens!

Fig. 5 shows some of the possible configurations.

Find it at Amazon, it’s the best $36 you’ll spend.

John Bisset has spent over 50 years in broadcasting and is in his 31st year of Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance. He is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

Workbench thrives on your snake stories and tech tips, which count toward SBE recertification. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com. 

 

 

The post Workbench: How to Get a Peek Into Hard-to-See Places appeared first on Radio World.

Licensee has requested the substitution of UHF channel 21 for VHF channel 9 in the DTV Table of Allotments

Licensee has requested the substitution of UHF channel 20 for VHF channel 7 in the DTV Table of Allotments

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Requested the substitution of UHF channel 27 for VHF channel 8 in the DTV Table of Allotments

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