Radio World

With World Radio Day coming up, UNESCO is offering a list of suggestions about how radio organizations around the world can celebrate it.

“We encourage all radio stations to plan and take part in this global event by organizing original activities related to the theme ‘Radio and Trust,’” it wrote in the introduction to a list of 13 ideas.

“Make the themes of the day your own — trust in radio journalism; trust and accessibility; trust and sustainability of radio stations.”

Suggestions include special programs, contests and quizzes.

Here is the list, in PDF format for downloading.

The 11th World Radio Day is Feb. 13. The event started in 2011 on the anniversary of the founding of United Nations Radio.

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G Networks announced a partnership with Text Groove to offer text messaging to U.S. radio stations on barter.

“One of the many benefits of the Text Groove platform is its ability to enable text messaging on a station’s existing studio phone number (landline, toll-free or VoIP), enabling immediate listener text interaction,” the company said in its announcement.

It quoted G Networks Chief Development Officer Rich O’Brien saying the technology was designed for radio station contexts specifically, to encourage listener interaction.

The announcement was made by Curtis Machek, CEO of Text Groove, and Warren Friedland, president of G Networks.

Text Groove launched in 2017 and says it has some 300 stations using its service in Canada and the United States. It says it has the ability to text-enable any landline, toll-free or VoIP phone number.

G Networks is a network audio company, part of media ad sales firm Gen Media Partners.

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These are good times for RadioDNS, it seems.

“Anyone can implement our open standards without needing our involvement or agreement,” said Project Director Nick Piggott in a press release previewing the organization’s upcoming annual General Assembly.

“That means they’re growing in use, both visible and invisible, across a growing number of areas of the radio industry globally. RadioDNS has established itself as a valuable and reliable resource.”

RadioDNS will hold its 16th General Assembly virtually on Feb. 23; it is open only to members. (See a list of members.)

“Our standards have been widely adopted by broadcasters, manufacturers and service providers, and are now proving valuable across the entire industry, not just hybrid radio,” the not-for-profit organization stated.

“As hoped and intended, our standards are now part of commercial offerings which create differentiation and competition but without creating unnecessary implementation costs and complexities.”

The service is free, and can be adopted by broadcasters directly or through a service provider.

Among other topics at this month’s assembly, RadioDNS will present its plans to develop hybrid radio functionality further.

Among organizations joining RadioDNS in the past year are IEEE BTS, Gracenote and NXP.

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Radio Azadi journalist Mohammad Homayoon Hewad at work in Kabul (from the Radio Azadi website)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is noting the 20th anniversary of the relaunch of broadcasts to Afghanistan in the Dari and Pashto languages.

“RFE/RL’s broadcasts resumed less than five months after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. and nearly a decade after the Dari and Pashto services were closed down in 1993 as part of an overall restructuring of RFE/RL operations following the end of the Cold War,” the organization noted in a press release.

“Despite last year’s withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and return of the Taliban to power, Radio Azadi continues to serve the Afghan people as a trusted and reliable source of news, analysis, and responsible discussion – on radio and, especially, on digital platforms.”

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly was quoted saying Radio Azadi has been “a trusted friend and partner to the Afghan people, in good times and bad.” He said the service’s work is important now “when so many of the achievements of the past twenty years are at risk.”

Radio Azadi marked the anniversary with a video report about the past 20 years, a photo gallery of journalists and a video of colleagues sharing experiences.

The organization said that its journalists “have endured death threats and other forms of harassment from Taliban and Islamic State forces, trends that intensified prior to the Taliban takeover.” It said four colleagues lost their lives in bombings in the past four years.

“The changing reality of producing journalism in Afghanistan forced RFE/RL to take dramatic steps to protect its staff, including the closure of its Kabul bureau, and evacuation of threatened local journalists from the country. Many former Radio Azadi staff remain in Afghanistan, ineligible for refugee status under U.S. government or international resettlement programs. Their situation remains highly tenuous.”

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It’s the sign of a good engineer to design facilities with backup systems.

We all know it’s just a matter of time before the “main” whatever will fail, requiring full dependence on the backup gear.

But don’t be lulled into a sense of false security just because you have a backup — whatever it may be. For best reliability, these backup systems need to be tested periodically.

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In the old days many of us performed Sunday night maintenance, from midnight to 6 a.m., during which studios and transmitters were cleaned, and backup systems were tested on the air. Few of today’s broadcast engineers have that luxury, yet the backups still need testing to ensure reliability.

Case in point, a backup RF amplifier. For the purposes of this column, it was a 500-watt backup RF amplifier drawer that sat on a shelf at the transmitter site until it was needed in an emergency. Fortunately, a wise engineer decided to check out the relic. When it didn’t fire up, he sent it to a nearby contract engineer for repairs.

Fig. 1: Suspicions started with the back panel hole. (left)
Fig. 2: The skeletonized remains of a mature mouse and baby are visible among the litter. (right)

The first clue was a missing Sub-D connector on the rear panel. This hole was factory-punched, and not a modification. But perhaps a hole for an option that should have been covered — it was not. The missing connector left about a half-inch hole as seen in the first image. The text label gives you some idea of what was awaiting the engineer investigating the unit.

The second image shows the nest and mess that field mice made of the inside. What is amazing is that after opening the top of the transmitter, the contract engineer inspected the top, bottom and sides carefully to see if there was any other way in. There was not. So, takeaway No. 1 is that mice don’t need more than a half inch, and maybe less, to infest our gear.

The top was replaced and the contract engineer developed a cleaning plan, starting with purchasing a high-filtration full-face mask. Mouse urine, feces and litter can harbor dangerous (and possibly deadly) bacteria — mice are filthy animals. Because of the contamination hazard, do not use a vacuum to suction the debris; its exhaust will only contaminate the air and your shop.

This job called for several toothbrushes, wooden cotton applicators, Clorox or similar brand wipes, and bottles of at least 70% denatured alcohol, along with latex gloves. A large plastic trash bag was placed on the workbench and the amplifier was placed inside. The bag edges were folded up around the equipment to prevent any liquids from contaminating the workbench. The oversize bag also provided room to discard waste as it was removed, lessening the chance that the discarded debris would miss a garbage can.

Using a combination of wooden cotton applicators saturated in alcohol, needle-nose pliers (for removing larger pieces of debris), and the wipes, the painstakingly slow job of removing the nesting materials, feces and mouse skeletons began.

Yes, apparently both the momma mouse and two offspring died inside the equipment. In one of the accompanying photos (Fig. 2) you can see the spines, ribs and skulls of momma and one of the offspring.

Fig. 3: The destructive nature of mice includes their penchant for chewing wire insulation. (left)
Fig. 4: The cleaning is complete. (right)

In addition to using the chassis as a toilet, the mice chewed the insulation off several wires. The missing insulation can be seen on the red wire in the third image (Fig. 3). As a part of the repairs, the damaged wires needed to be replaced. Cable ties that secured bundles of wires had to be cut; the wires separated, and individually cleaned. The cleaning process was tediously slow, to avoid creating any airborne dust, while thoroughly cleaning.

After scrubbing with the swabs and toothbrush, and saturating the boards with the alcohol, the chassis was moved to a clean trash bag and left for 48 hours so all liquid cleaning fluids evaporated. If you’re doing work like this, seal the used bag with cable ties and dispose. Do NOT compress the bag as you seal it — the escaping air may have the bacteria you are trying to avoid.

The fourth image (Fig. 4) shows the sanitized unit. To complete the cleaning, the rear panel was dismounted from the enclosure, showing the “innards” of the RF amplifier. Note that the large aluminum heat sink to which the RF combiner circuit card is mounted (with the squiggly lines) made its way back to shining once again.

So inspect your backup gear — and especially any welcome holes, no matter how small.

John Bisset, has CPBE, more than 50 years in broadcasting and is in his 31st year writing Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award. Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com.

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WorldCast Systems announced new versions of its APTmpX, an MPX/composite compression algorithm.

“APTmpX significantly lowers the hardware and distribution costs previously associated with standard FM network architecture,” the company said in the announcement.

“Despite the advent of the internet and digital broadcasting standards, FM remains the world’s most popular transmission format and a central technology in radio broadcasters’ efforts to maximize their reach and audience. As a result, new technologies have had to be created to enable an FM-centric workflow to also work for internet delivery.”

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It said the initial version, launched in 2020, offered FM broadcasters access to high-quality signal compression for centralized FM MPX/Composite transmission.

“This provided a game-changing solution in the <900 kbps region,” it continued. “However, the latest release of APTmpX takes this even further.”

Three versions are available that offer levels of compression at 600, 400 or 300 kbps network bandwidth. “This dramatically widens the potential impact of the technology on the industry and means that the composite signal can now directly be transported with non-destructive compression from 600 kbps down to 300 kbps, all at the highest sound quality,” it stated.

Gregory Mercier, director of product marketing, was quoted saying the new versions will particularly benefit broadcasters in areas of poor bandwidth penetration.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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Holly Saurer

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced several bureau staff changes on January 31, including new Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer.

Saurer has held several positions in the bureau including deputy bureau chief, associate bureau chief, senior legal advisor and attorney-advisor with the Media Bureau’s Policy Division. Saurer also has experience working in the offices of commissioners themselves.

For the past year, she has served as legal advisor of media for Chairwoman Rosenworcel. Before that, Saurer served as an acting media advisor for Rosenworcel as well as for former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. She also served as an International and Consumer Affairs legal advisor for former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Prior to joining the commission, Saurer worked at the Washington, D.C., offices of Drinker Biddle & Reath and Miller & Van Eaton. She received her JD from American University and graduated from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Saurer replaces Michelle Carey, who had served as chief of the Media Bureau since May 2017.

Rosenworcel also appointed several other new bureau chiefs, including new heads of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, the Public Safety Bureau, the Enforcement Bureau and the Office of the General Counsel.

“Ensuring modern communications reach every corner of the country isn’t possible without the leadership of incredible, capable experts throughout the commission,” Rosenworcel said in a news release. “I am confident in the talent at the FCC and honored this team will help lead the commission.”

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Adriana Rizzo will work on building audience growth for Audacy. She joins the company effective Jan. 31.

As senior vice president of consumer marketing, Rizzo will work across Audacy’s brand strategy, creative, messaging, media planning and attribution, to grow the company’s audience. She will report to Paul Suchman, Audacy’s chief marketing officer.

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“We’re thrilled to have Adriana join our growing team,” said Suchman. “Adriana will be a key partner to our business lines and to our marketing leads across broadcast, digital, sports betting and podcasting.”

Before joining Audacy, Rizzo launched the Discovery+ streaming service. Before that she worked at ESPN, launching WatchESPN, rebranding ESPN3 and repositioning ESPNInsider. Her early career includes marketing roles at Verizon, early-stage start-ups, and agency-side experience.

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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SXM Media, part of SiriusXM, has rolled out a “listener identity solution” called AudioID that it says will help marketers reach consumers “at scale.”

“AudioID puts content and audiences first, providing an improved consumer experience across multiple platforms and a better way for brands to buy audio advertising,” the company stated. It calls this an example of its investment in audio ad technology “to make advertising across satellite radio, streaming music and podcasts as simple as pressing play or turning the dial.”

The announcement was made by Chief Revenue Officer John Trimble. AudioID uses technology from AdsWizz, which is owned by SiriusXM.

The company, which owns streaming platform Pandora and podcast producer Stitcher in addition to its flagship satellite business, positions itself as “the largest digital audio ad ecosystem in North America,” and said AudioID will expand its impact and appeal.

AudioID uses an algorithm that accepts and matches a variety of “consented” listener signals and weighs them, responding to ad requests by finding or creating “unique, anonymized AudioIDs.” IDs can be tapped for functions such as forecasting, frequency decisions and first-party targeting.

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The company will use its datasets of the populations of Pandora, SiriusXM and Stitcher listeners, matching them to create AudioIDs. “This will allow for a better ad experience for consumers, marketers and publishers, tapping into listener behavior and preferences in a way that supports the future of identity safety while helping marketers achieve their goals.”

Later this year, AudioID will be extended to off-platform parties through AdsWizz. Right now the effort is focused on the United States; in the longer term the company hopes to expand AudioID globally.

It said privacy protection is embedded into AudioID through anonymity. “AudioID always remaining an optional (versus required) solution for external parties.” Chris Record, senior vice president and head of ad product, technology & operations at SXM Media and AdsWizz, was quoted describing AudioID as “a consumer-first, privacy-conscious infrastructure.”

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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The city of Pine Bluff, Ark., is home to an unused and still-unlit antenna tower originally built to provide radio service from KPBQ(FM). (credit: Creative Commons)

Even though the land has changed hands several times over the years, the Media Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission has made it clear that an unsafe and unused antenna structure on a parcel of land in Arkansas — which has since been declared a “menace to aviation” — must be pulled down by the current land owners.

There was much promise back around this structure in 1990 when land owner Lee Ann Kleider granted Colon Johnston permission to construct a 374-foot-tall structure in return for a rental fee of $12,000 per year. According to an FCC summary, the tower was built in connection with the acquisition of new FM broadcast station construction permit to serve Pine Bluff, Ark. Over the years the antenna and station changed hands several times — first to SEARK Radio in 1997 and then MRS Ventures in 2003.

When the structure was first registered, the commission ordered that the structure be lit properly, including a steady-burning obstruction light at top and flashing lights at specified heights down the structure.

By 2011 it was clear that the antenna structure was no longer being used. Today, neither SEARK nor MRS remain in existence.

The land passed from one group to another, too. In 1996, Kleider sold the land, which is now jointly owned by Lora Lynn Gaither, Edward Wilkerson and Allen Wilkerson. But ownership of the antenna structure is not as clear because Gaither has never received payments for use of the structure.

In subsequent conversations with the Enforcement Bureau, Gaither expressed an interest in having the structure dismantled as it is not maintained and is located near her home.

But when the bureau reached out to the three land owners to get an update on the state of the structure in July 2021, no one responded.

In the years since the structure’s completion, the commission has received multiple complaints that the structure is not properly illuminated. In May 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration stepped in and determined that “this abandoned, unlit structure [is] a menace to aviation” and recommended the FCC take appropriate actions to ensure it is dismantled.

Now it is the commission’s responsibility to identify which party can dismantle the long-abandoned structure.

An unlit antenna structure such as this one poses a significant safety hazard to airplanes, passengers and the general public. Because it poses an imminent threat to life, the commission said it cannot wait for the landowners to obtain title of the easement and foreclose on the structure before ordering the antenna be taken down.

The commission therefore found that the land owners have an ownership interest in the structure. As a result, the landowners — Gaither, along with Edward and Allen Wilkerson — have been ordered by the commission to dismantle the structure within 90 days.

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Radio engineer Tony Abfalter is about to take a break from his normal work to head out on an unusual assignment.

Leighton Broadcasting, where Abfalter is director of engineering, said he is beginning a hiatus this week to join the U.S. Antarctic Program, part of the National Science Foundation team, as senior communications technician.

[Related: “Engineer Tony Abfalter Is an MVP”]

“In this role Tony will be supporting a variety of communications systems, as well as assisting National Science Foundation staff with ongoing upgrades as needed,” Leighton said in an announcement.

This means he’s headed for the famous McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica, the southernmost point accessible by ship during local summer.

Abfalter will start with quarantines in Seattle and New Zealand. At McMurdo, he’ll work for nine months.

“While on location Tony will be responsible to troubleshoot and maintain all aspects of wired and wireless communications,” it said. “Tony will be using his deep knowledge of microwave, UHF and VHF technologies. He will be programming and maintaining radio gear, which connects researchers and technicians in the field to the main base as well as holding responsibility for station communications outward to the rest of the world.”

[Check out webcams at McMurdo Station.]

In addition to his technical experience Abfalter can draw on familiarity with work in temperature extremes. He’s a Minnesota native with cold weather survival experience and EMR/SAR training with the Holdingford Fire Department.

Temperatures during his stay are expected to go as low as –20 degrees Fahrenheit.

His employer plans to keep track of his adventures on its website. Leighton added that Abfalter is excited to work with an international community of researchers and maintenance personnel requiring him to draw on his communication skills “and possibly heretofore unused pantomime abilities.”

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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Curt Yengst, a radio/TV broadcast engineer who for 17 years was also a contributor to Radio World, died in January. He was 52.

Yengst, a Senior Member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, was a broadcast engineer for Lighthouse TV/WBPH-60 in Bethlehem/Philadelphia, Pa.

Earlier he had worked The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as an engineer for the daily radio program “Decision Today” and for Star 99.1 FM WAWZ in Zarephath, N.J.

“He was buried with a tweaker in his hand and wearing his SBE pin,” wrote WBPH Chief Engineer Daniel Huber, noting that Yengst leaves his wife Dawn and four children. The couple had celebrated their 25th anniversary in October.

In lieu of flowers a GoFundMe page has been established for the family.

“Curt was part of the Radio World family,” said Editor in Chief Paul McLane. “It’s so upsetting to have him taken from us, and so suddenly.”

Yengst wrote numerous popular articles in Radio World about his own audio and recording equipment designs, as well as equipment reviews.

According to his obituary, Yengst also was author of the book “Tempus Fugit” and a self-taught musician who wrote, engineered and produced music in his studio, Zerro House Productions.

Yengst earned an associate’s degree from Thomas Edison University. He was an avid videographer who enjoyed recording and producing children’s musical and theater productions, a passionate follower of the Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron, and an ordained minister. He attended Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship in Allentown, Pa.

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The CC Skywave from CCrane

The challenges of precision-tuning analog radios, plus the reliance of international shortwave broadcasters on switching between multiple frequencies and bands to reach global audiences 24/7, explains why direct-entry pushbutton digital radios came into this hobby almost 40 years ago.

The flag-bearer for SW radios that were as easy to use as a pushbutton telephone was the iconic (and still respected) Sony ICF-2001/ICF 2010. Released to the world in the mid-1980s, the ICF 2001D/2010D even had an LCD display!

Today, digital radios with direct pushbutton entry are commonplace in the portable SW portable receiver market.

I recently tested two such portables, the pocket-sized CCrane CC Skywave SSB and the new tablet-sized Sangean ATS-909X2.

In addition to offering pushbutton tuning and automatic frequency scanning, both come with manual tuning dials, back-lit LCD displays, the ability to tune to the full SW bands (1.711–29.999 MHz) plus AM, FM (stereo in headsets) and the AIR (aeronautical 118–137 MHz) band. The ATS909X2 can also tune to longwave.

They also offer a range of bandwidth filters to improve audio clarity on SW, the ability to preset station memories, and built-in SSB (single sideband tuners) for tuning in amateur radio transmissions heard within the SW bands.

As well, both portables come with long extendable whip antennas and windup external wire antennas for pulling in weaker and rarer SW stations, along with signal strength meters, stereo earbuds and even radio cases.

How to choose

So how can one pick between them?

The Sangean ATS-909X2

Well, a diehard SW hobbyist would solve this problem by simply owning both, because the CC Skywave SSB and ATS909X2 are fine additions to any radio listening shack.

But for those only planning to buy one SW portable, here are some differences that may guide your decision.

At $169.99, the CCrane CC Skywave SSBis the less expensive of these two SW radios. It is also smaller, measuring just 4.8 inches wide by 3 inches high and 1 inch deep.

Although the CC Skywave SSB is the size of a vintage AM transistor, the similarities stop there. With a full range of features including 400 memory presets — so you can prestore your favorite SW stations and recall them easily afterwards — the CC Skywave SSB is the ultimate pocket radio.

This SW radio is also great for long-time listening with great selectivity (choosing between stations) and sensitivity, both of which are aided by the CC Skywave SSB’s range of audio filters.

As well, the CC Skywave SSB is a great performer on the AM band — especially at night — and delivers excellent stereo audio on FM when you use earbuds/headsets. CCrane is proud of the fact that this radio can run up to 70 hours on earbuds/60 hours on its built–in speaker using pair of AA Alkaline batteries.

At $265 on Amazon, the Sangean ATS-909X2 costs considerably more than the CCrane CC Skywave SSB, but there are good reasons for this price difference.

For example, the ATS-909X2 comes with a much larger LCD screen that is also in color, and capable of displaying all kinds of information including RDS station data on FM. It also has 1,674 station presets, with the ability to program in station names for each that appear on the radio’s display.

The ATS-909X2’s rotary-style tuning dial (in addition to its direct-entry keypad) is front-mounted, as opposed to the CC Skywave SSB’s side-mounted (and smaller) tuning dial. This provides an analog-style experience for those SW fans like myself who still enjoy tuning across the bands manually to see what happens to pop up.

Meanwhile, the ATS-909X2’s built-in speaker is twice the size of the CC Skywave SSB’s 1-inch unit, which delivers fuller, more listenable sound.

This unit’s FM headset audio is also better. To be precise, listening to FM stereo on the CC Skywave SSB is excellent, but the ATS-909X2’s FM stereo audio has extra depth and definition, rivalling that of a standalone Hi-Fi amplifier.

One feature that I particularly love in this radio is its pair of clocks, one for local time and one for Universal Coordinated Time (UTC, a.k.a. Greenwich Mean Time), which is the time zone in which SW stations list their broadcast/frequency schedules.

This spares me the mental gymnastics of converting 12- to 24-hour time and then adding four or five hours to that number, depending on the season in eastern North America, to get the right time for UTC.

These are just some of the many features found on the Sangean ATS-909X2, which is truly an astounding SW portable radio. But this fact does not take away from the superbness of the CC Skywave SSB, whose price is less than 40% of the ATS-909X2’s.

These radios are aimed at different parts of the SW portable market. The CCrane CC Skywave SSB is a solid all-round performer in a go-anywhere package slighting bigger than a pack of playing cards, while the Sangean ATS-909X2 is a technophile’s dream in a larger but still streamlined piece of practical yet beautiful radio engineering. This is why this reporter cannot choose between the two of them — and fortunately does not have to.

Info: ccrane.com and sangean.com.

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The North American Broadcasters Association has released the NABA Radio In-car User Experience (UX) Guidelines.

The document was produced by the NABA Radio Committee in collaboration with the WorldDAB Automotive Committee.

“This is a ‘North American version’ of the latest edition of the WorldDAB UX Guidelines, which have also just been updated,” NABA stated in the announcement.

“These guidelines have been created to inform automotive manufacturers and broadcasters on how to deliver the best possible radio user experience and are largely based on the results of consumer research. Consumer use cases in the UX Guidelines include users wanting to find radio easily in the car media system, to find radio stations easily, for the list of stations to be up to date, to be able to easily set a station as a pre-set, and to keep listening to a station if it is available.”

A comparison of the new NABA and WorldDAB UX Guidelines

For each of those use cases, the guidelines put forth a series of recommendations. So, for example, to help meet consumers’ desire to find radio easily, they state that car designs should include a permanent “Radio” button on the dash, console or top-level menu; that selecting “Radio” should default to HD Radio where available or go to a menu where radio platforms can be chosen; that in a hybrid radio system, the best available platform signal will be automatically selected, minimizing use of a station’s audio stream; that the factory default setting for HD Radio should be ON, but default behavior should be settable by the consumer, with separate settings for AM and FM bands; that if there is no “Radio” button, selecting a station is only two clicks from the media home screen; and that a mechanism should be provided for no more than “two-click” switching between a projection system like Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and the car radio.

NABA Director-General Michael McEwen expressed thanks to WorldDAB for its collaboration. “We have been able to efficiently leverage their findings and apply them to the North American market, and the result is a more complete picture of radio listening for manufacturers.”

The documents also provide input on hybrid radio, including “service following,” improved visuals and the potential for interaction, it said. Here’s a link again to the guidelines.

Meanwhile, a new revision is out for the WorldDAB Radio UX Guidelines, first developed in 2018.

Those were created by the WorldDAB Automotive Working Group to provide clear guidance on how to deliver the best-possible digital radio user experience. New material includes hybrid radio; voice controls and phonemes; data on in-car radio listening; and service lists.

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The most recent effort by the FCC to ferret out redundant or outdated broadcast radio regulations is expected to culminate at the commission’s next monthly meeting.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel this week released the agency’s February Open Meeting agenda, which includes plans for the commission to finalize a proposal introduced in July 2021 to clean up a series of technical rules.

It’s the continuation of a media modernization initiative that began several years ago under former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The FCC says the latest changes are expected to “reduce any potential confusion, alleviate unnecessary burdens, and make sure our rules reflect the latest technical requirements.”

The FCC voted unanimously last year adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking identifying seven technical rules that broadcast radio experts say will benefit radio broadcasters and allow them to operate more efficiently. The list of proposals included an update to the noncommercial FM community of license coverage requirements and eliminating the requirement that applicants demonstrate the effect of any FM applicant transmitting antenna on nearby FM or TV broadcast antennas.

The FCC’s proposal also calls for the elimination of the maximum rated power limit rule for AM transmitters, which one veteran broadcast engineer told Radio World previously “no one has paid any attention to for decades.”

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Another longtime FCC watcher described the technical rules update as “safe and sane deregulatory efforts” that constitute a “clearing of the regulatory underbrush.”

The FCC also plans to update the signal strength contour overlap requirements for noncommercial Class D FMs to bring those rules in line with the contour overlap requirements for all other noncommercial FMs. In addition, it proposes modifying the definition of AM fill-in area when an FM translator simulcasts an AM station to create consistency across different rules governing fill-in translator transmitter siting.

The NAB was generally supportive of all but one of the seven proposed changes, according to comments it filed in the FCC proceeding (MB 21-263). NAB wrote it respectfully disagrees with the FCC’s proposal to eliminate the regulatory requirement to consider proximate transmitting facilities. NAB believes eliminating the rule is “tantamount to instructing applicants not to worry about the potential effects of their operation on existing stations.”

NAB continued: “We submit that this requirement provides an important legal tool for defining interference protection rights.”

The group also offered the following caveat to its overall support: “NAB urges the commission to stipulate that any rule changes adopted in this proceeding should not cause any existing stations to be in violation of the commission rules and that any station adversely affected by such rules changes be grandfathered to the extent necessary to avoid being forced to modify their operations.”

The NAB concluded its comments on the FCC’s proposed technical changes by writing it “appreciated the commission’s goal of eliminating or updating unnecessary or outmoded regulations and supported the changes proposed in the NPRM.”

The FCC’s February Open Meeting is scheduled for Feb. 18.

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This year’s World Radio Day celebrates the trust, accessibility and long-term viability of the radio industry.

Feb. 13, 2022, marks the 11th annual celebration of World Radio Day, which is organized by the United Nations’ UNESCO organization. This year’s theme is “Radio and Trust” in recognition of radio’s standing as one of the most trusted media sources around. Even as various studies reveal a global decline in trust in the internet and social media networks, people continue to see radio as one of the most trustworthy news sources, the organization said.

“Part of people’s trust in radio is due to its low cost and ubiquitous nature,” UNESCO said in a statement about the upcoming World Radio Day. “Despite digitalization being a global tendency, digital access to information is far from being equal with huge differences remaining between regions and between communities.”

Compare that to radio, the organization said, a medium that remains affordable and can be listened to everywhere, even when electricity or connectivity are not reliable. “Radio is thereby one of the most popular means of communications, used by an overwhelming majority of people,” the organization said.

UNESCO suggested in its announcement several themes that can be celebrated on World Radio Day, including trust in radio journalism, the accessibility of radio and the viability of radio stations.

Radio has a key role to play in several areas, UNESCO said, beginning with producing independent and high-quality content, providing information to a diverse group of individuals and working to transform loyal audience engagement into financial stability, especially for small, medium or nonprofit stations.

World Radio Day got its start in 2011 when member states of UNESCO adopted Feb. 13 — the anniversary of the 1946 founding of United Nations Radio — as World Radio Day in an effort to raise greater awareness of the importance of radio, to encourage decision makers to provide access to information via radio and to enhance networking and international cooperation among broadcasters.

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(Image credit: Public Knowledge)

Gigi Sohn, the Democratic nominee for the FCC told the commission this week that she would recuse herself from television broadcast copyright and retrans issues if her nomination for commissioner is approved.

Sohn’s nomination has garnered some pushback from broadcasters who object to her role as a member of the board of Locast, a streaming service that was found by a court to violate broadcast copyright laws. In add

In a letter to acting FCC general counsel Michelle Ellison and obtained by TV Tech sister publication NextTV, Sohn said the recusal would last for the first three years of her term, but that she would not recuse herself from other media related issues such as media ownership or transfer of control of broadcast, cable, and satellite companies.

Sohn told Ellison that in 2010, as president of Public Knowledge, she signed a Petition for Rulemaking to change rules governing retransmission rules and that in order “to avoid any appearance of impropriety and in interest of ensuring that the public has full confidence that policymakers will make decisions free of bias,” she would voluntarily recuse herself when the FCC considered retrans and broadcast copyright issues.

The NAB welcomed Sohn’s decision.

“Ms. Sohn’s recusal agreement resolves the concerns NAB raised regarding her nomination. NAB appreciates Ms. Sohn’s willingness to seriously consider our issues regarding retransmission consent and broadcast copyright, and to address those concerns in her recusal. We look forward to the Senate moving forward with Ms. Sohn’s confirmation and are eager to work with her and the full complement of commissioners in the very near future,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt.

The Commerce Committee is scheduled to vote on Sohn’s nomination next week.

A version of this story first appeared on our sister publication TV Technology’s website.

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Radio World’s latest ebook is the biggest yet, almost 50 pages chock-full of photos of new studios recently built by leading broadcast organizations.

Yes, new radio studios are still being built during the pandemic, and here’s the proof. Check out the equipment and design choices made by your peers who solved technical problems and overcame challenging deadlines in these exciting buildouts.

You’ll read about new facilities at Audacy Miami, 77 WABC in New York, Nashville Public Radio, CBC/Radio-Canada, Educational Media Foundation in Tennessee, IB3 in Spain, Rider University’s WRRC, Hubbard Cincinnati, the Huskers Radio Network, Midwest Family in South Bend, Urban One Atlanta, The Station of the Cross in Buffalo, University of Sherbrook’s CFAK, Cumulus Kansas City and Cumulus Lake Charles.

Read it here.

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Gimme Radio announced $3 million in funding in a round led by iHeartMedia.

Gimme is a digital radio service for artists and music fans. It provides a venue where artists choose the music and fans show support through tipping, merchandise sales and vinyl subscriptions.

iHeartMedia joins The Orchard, Concord, Metal Blade Records, Riser House Entertainment and Quartz Hill Records, who also have backed Gimme. Gimme said iHeartMedia’s investment enables the company to extend its reach to more fans and genres while offering iHeartMedia a way to build communities around its own programming and talent.

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Gimme noted that more than 1,200 artists host shows on two stations, Gimme Metal and Gimme Country.

The Gimme Radio executive team, led by Tyler Lenane, CEO and co-founder, consists of music industry executives with experience at digital music services including Beats, Apple Music, Google Play Music, and Napster (formerly Rhapsody).

In a statement announcing the funding and partnership, Lenane said, “Creating rich communities of artists and fans who can have meaningful conversations, build real relationships and transact directly with one another is how the world will experience music and support artists.”

Chris Williams, GM and chief product officer at iHeartRadio, said the company was pleased to help extend the connection between artists and fans, as well as enabling Gimme to reach the iHeartRadio audience.

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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The authors are director of technology and product manager, respectively, for StreamGuys.

Every engineer and station manager knows that actively monitoring their broadcast operations is critical. Techniques for monitoring over-the-air broadcast signal chains have been honed over many decades and may be well understood.

But streaming distribution brings with it a new set of potential points of failure that must be monitored in different ways. Understanding each step of how your streamed content goes from point A to point B, and how you can monitor each of those steps, is essential to fixing problems if they occur.

Stream monitoring for radio broadcasters starts with source production in the studio and extends all the way out to the audience consuming the content. At StreamGuys, we talk in terms of four primary layers of the signal chain: content production; the facility network that connects the production to a streaming service provider or CDN; the service layer that hosts and streams the content to the world; and the application layer where listeners access the content.

The content layer

Streaming radio content essentially takes one of two forms: on-demand content such as podcasts, or live streams as a corollary of traditional linear broadcasts.

Verifying on-demand content is fairly straightforward, as you’re only really worried about whether the media file is “good” — for example, whether it is encoded in the correct codec and bitrate, with proper metadata, and normalized correctly for its purpose (such as the TD1008 spec for speech-centric content).

Validating live content is more complicated as it requires multiple facets to be verified in near real time, starting with playout from the automation system. Normalization and digital signal processing may occur prior to the encoder, and you need to ensure the encoder receives a valid audio signal that is true to the producer’s intent. The output of the encoder itself — MP3, AAC, or even HLS — must also be validated.

The network layer

Eduardo Martinez

The network is how your signal is transported to your streaming media provider or CDN, which in turn reflects that signal out to the world. The network comprises the switches, routers and gateways that make up your local area network (LAN) at the origination source, and also interacts with a dedicated internet service provider (ISP) connection for uploading streams from the encoder.

Tools like Ping, Traceroute and PingPlotter should be used constantly to monitor the consistency of the network and ensure connectivity to the outside world. You should be monitoring against the points of presence where your CDN is ingesting your streams. Generic speed tests don’t offer useful perspective, as they don’t accurately represent the path between your network and the service layer to which you’re broadcasting.

Persistent tracing provides the operational visibility necessary to identify intermittent issues. This long-term approach to monitoring the health of your network enables you to correlate issues reported by listeners — such as stream buffering at specific times of day — against network events such as packet loss or jitter on the link between the studio and CDN. Such data can help when working with your ISP to resolve such issues.

The service layer

Robert Minnix

After the live feed reaches your CDN or you have uploaded file-based media file to your CMS, the service layer is the delivery mechanism that distributes your content to your audience. It consists of multiple purpose-built streaming servers and usually is operated by a CDN or streaming media company, spanning multiple points of presence globally.

For monitoring purposes, look at the service layer as if you are part of your audience. First, ensure you can connect to the stream from your location, like a listener in your own DMA. From there, cast a wider net to ensure the stream is available from other parts of the country, or even globally. Automated monitoring agents can be set up in different geographic areas and even on specific consumer networks to help narrow down issues affecting only specific groups of listeners.

In addition to verifying that streams are accessible, you also want to ensure listeners are correctly receiving your audio. Silence monitoring is an important aspect of that, and can help detect issues with the automation system or encoder. The silence detector “listens” to the stream, and if it falls below a particular audio level for longer than a specified time threshold, triggers an alert. Audience measurement can also help identify issues, as sudden dips in traffic can correlate to technical issues with your streams.

The application layer

The application layer is essentially any mechanism the audience can use to interact with your content. This could be via your website using various browsers; it could be a dedicated mobile app; or it could be through increasingly popular smart speakers.

Monitoring the application layer comes down to verifying proper playback of your content. Are there any audio issues that weren’t present in the source, but are audible through the player? Such problems may be platform specific. For example, the audio specifications you’re delivering might be fine in one browser but not in another.

Analyzing the user experience is also important, as how people interact with your content — such as voice commands — can impact their engagement.

There isn’t yet a great, automated way of testing the human experience. Manual testing is still the best way to verify that your player is outputting the right content properly in various locations, and that commands are fulfilling the interactions you want your consumers to have.

While you should obviously perform your own testing, you can supplement it with feedback from people who are essentially constantly monitoring the application layer for you — your audience! Pay close attention to their feedback, even unique problems you haven’t heard of elsewhere. They may be the clues you need to track down problems elsewhere in the chain.

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