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In advance of the Senate hearing scheduled for Dec. 1 on the nomination of Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) president and CEO Gordon Smith has expressed “serious concerns” about her previous involvement as a director in the streaming service Locast.

After lengthy litigation, the Locast service, which streamed local broadcast signals in more than 30 markets, was forced to shut down in September when a judge in the Southern District of New York ruled it was illegally streaming the signals.

“NAB strongly supports Congress’s desire to have a fully seated Federal Communications Commission as soon as possible,” Gordon said in a statement. “Although NAB does not currently oppose the nomination of Gigi Sohn, we have serious concerns about her involvement as one of three directors of the illegal streaming service Locast.”

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“NAB is confident that these concerns can be resolved,” stated Gordon. “However, the ethics agreement that Ms. Sohn submitted to the Senate currently does not adequately address the inherent conflict presented by her recent leadership position at Locast and her potential role as an FCC commissioner. NAB is actively working with members of the Senate Commerce Committee and the White House to address this conflict and requests that Ms. Sohn submit an amended ethics agreement that meaningfully and effectively addresses this clear and troubling conflict.”

Sohn is one of three leaders at the company, along with one other director and former Dish executive and Locast founder David Goodfriend. Two days after her nomination as commissioner, Sohn entered into a settlement with the plaintiffs in the case that enjoined her from operating Locast in the future or any other service seeking to exploit Congress’s nonprofit exemption to the copyright laws. The company also agreed to pay the broadcaster plaintiffs $32 million as a result of its ongoing illegal activity.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Executive VP for Newsgathering at CBS News has been selected, and it is a woman who will have editorial oversight for network newsgathering worldwide, including all domestic and international bureaus.

Taking the role is the the current EVP and CBS News Washington bureau chief, in the post since July 2020.

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Don’t tell this crowd that there aren’t young people out there who are interested in broadcast technology.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers announced that the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust has awarded five scholarships for 2021.

They are given to individuals interested in continuing or beginning an education in broadcast engineering and technology. Each recipient this year receives $2,500. The choices were announced by SBE President Andrea Cummis.

From left: Ismail Otu, Michael Cassara, Zachary Cameron, Christopher Gamelin and Meredith Frank

The Harold E. Ennes Scholarship recipient is Ismail Otu, CRO, CTO, a graduate of the Broadcasting Production Technology Program at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C. SBE said he plans to attend the Cleveland Institute of Electronics and major in broadcast engineering/wireless communication electronics.

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The Robert D. Greenberg Scholarship recipient is Michael Cassara, who is in his sophomore year of studying computer engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.

The John H. Battison SBE Founder’s Scholarship is awarded to Zachary Cameron, who is attending Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., studying telecommunications.

The Gino Ricciardelli Scholarship goes to Christopher Gamelin, who has worked at iHeartMedia and Entercom Communications and now is a maintenance technician with WFSB(TV), where he has worked on remote broadcasts and continues to expand his electronics knowledge.

And the Youth Scholarship goes to Meredith Frank, who will pursue her interest in live TV production at Hofstra University, working on a degree in television production and studies.

The Harold Ennes Scholarship Fund Trust was started by Indianapolis Chapter 25 in 1980 in memory of Harold E. Ennes. Administration was taken over by the national SBE in 1981, and the name of the trust was changed in 1995 to the Harold Ennes Educational Foundation Trust.

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SAVANNAH, GA. — For television viewers in Georgia’s Coastal Empire, local news choices have become more competitive than ever. While Gray Television’s WTOC-11 remains the leader and most top-of-mind local TV station in this region, Hearst-owned WJCL-22 has developed an incubator for its other local news organizations across the nation. Sinclair Broadcast Group’s FOX affiliate, WTGS-28, has also gained a sizable audience.

Then there is the local NBC affiliate, owned by Nexstar Media Group thanks to its merger in 2016 with Media General. It was a property that Raycom Media, at its founding, declined to own, choosing instead WTOC.

Today, that Nexstar station, WSAV-3, is on a growth spurt, making Savannah-Beaufort-Hilton Head a thriving market for broadcast TV. Now, WSAV has a new leader.

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WASHINGON, D.C. — The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has released a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for Broadcast Core Network technologies to enhance the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard.

The project is on a fast track, the group says, with initial responses of interest due by December 31.

“ATSC members are the stewards of the ATSC 3.0 Platform, evolving and expanding the system’s capabilities over time,” said ATSC President Madeleine Noland. “This new development will move the technology forward and unlock innovative business scenarios for the broadcast ecosystem.”

ATSC is in the process of specifying Standards for a Broadcast Core Network. ATSC envisions that the addition of core networking capabilities can be an integral part of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast system architecture. The aim, ATSC says, is to facilitate efficient interconnect between broadcast towers to form one or more service networks, enabling new business opportunities that require efficient regional or national data delivery options. Sourcing content from multiple data networks, a Broadcast Core Network holds potential to broaden the range of addressable use cases beyond those defined for linear television program delivery and extend the utility of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast facilities to untapped market areas, such as Broadcast (Virtual) Network Operator (BNO, BVNO), Regional or National Datacasting, enhanced Interactivity, and Data/Content Offload.

“We are excited to expand ATSC 3.0 options to include Core Networking,” said Luke Fay, Chair of ATSC Technology Group 3 and Sr. Manager Technical Standards at Sony Electronics. “This valuable addition to the ATSC 3.0 standard will enable broadcasters to coordinate data and content delivery across multiple markets. We look forward to specifying a state-of-the-art ATSC 3.0 extension with experts in the industry.”

Interested organizations may submit an intent-to-respond by December 31. Details of the response requirements and schedule can be found in the RFP.

Shulins Solutions, known for its monitor, control and protection products for transmission sites, drone-based tower inspections and broadcast consulting services, says a “leading North American tower company has agreed to a multi-site purchase of Stellar Eclipse broadcast site monitor and protection system featuring VSWR Sentinel.

It’s not revealing the name of the tower company, but Shulins says the purchase means they will increase their deployment of Stellar Eclipse to more than 70 sites across the top 50 markets, protecting over 350 of radio and TV stations.

“Shared common antenna sites often with complex combining networks demand monitoring and protection beyond a simple remote control,” Shulins says. “To protect these significant investments, broadcasters need a proactive solution to not only provide next level of monitoring, logging and control, but a comprehensive VSWR system for maximum protection.”

In selecting Stellar Ellipse, the company is deploying a platform and architecture to not only protect the RF systems for FM and all formats of analog digital TV on VHF and UHF including ATSC 3.0, but also provides unique cloud-based monitoring of many shared systems often overlooked in an individual stations remote control, Shulins says.

Paul Shulins, the company’s President, comments, “This investment in our next generation, cloud-based monitoring and protection systems delivers the protection and visibility of critical communication infrastructure our customers count on to deliver their content
in a demanding 24/7/365 environment and much more.”

With the support of Fincons Group, Univision developed a new broadcasting app to enable personalization of viewer experience over both broadband connected and linear TV.

The app, which leverages ATSC 3.0 technology and innovative integrations to provide viewers with dynamic content both via Broadband (OTT) and Broadcast (OTA) connection, is a winner. Literally.

Fincons Group’s Univision ATSC3.0 Broadcast App is a Best New Streaming Technology winner in the 2021 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards. The awards program recognizes the most significant and promising new products and technologies showcased by corporate partners of NAB Show.

The app enables the delivery of additional information regarding news anchors in the “Meet the local news team” navigation node, access to QR coded additional content and dynamic local weather forecast. For OTT viewers, the app also provides access to on-demand local news clips.

The app, which integrates the A3FA Consortium Framework, is one of the first to leverage the ATSC 3.0 standard to deliver enhanced viewing experiences to both connected and unconnected TVs.

NAB Show Product of the Year Award Winners were selected by a panel of industry experts in 16 categories and announced in a live awards ceremony on NAB Amplify on November 3. To be eligible for an award, nominated products had to come from companies scheduled to exhibit in either the 2020 or 2021 NAB Show and are delivered within the 2021 calendar year.

When the pandemic put a full stop to sports and live event production, CP Communications parked its mobile trucks and shifted its focus to REMI and in-studio production. It’s a business that continues to grow for the company.

The return of live sports now has CP Communications treading familiar territory with events such as the MLB All-Star Game, NBA Finals, and – most recently – Aramco Team Series New York, an internationally televised and globally streamed professional golf event.

CP Communications, a specialist in RF and IP-based content acquisition for professional golf events, was hired by event producer Olhmeyer Kusserow Group (OKG) to step in on short notice due to COVID-related restrictions for international production teams. Within two weeks, CP Communications had a turnkey crew and technology plan for the hilly Glen Oaks Club on Long Island in October 2021.

CP Communications drove its flagship HD-21 production truck to the course with 50,000 feet of fiber, eight RF cameras, eight RF effects microphones, two RF talent microphones, and course-wide communications. The company also coordinated RF frequencies for live coverage, using special temporary authority, or STAs, from the FCC to acquire spectrum.

“It felt like old times,” said CP Communications CEO Kurt Heitmann. “We have years of experience providing full video and audio coverage of big golf events for major broadcast networks, and the ability to turn around a turnkey system and crew on minimal notice for live productions of any size. When the OKG team came calling, we were ready and eager to step in to help them bring this event to viewers worldwide.”

CP Communications Vice President of Sales and Marketing Aaron Segarra adds that one of the more challenging elements of covering golf is perhaps unexpected.

“Ensuring high-quality video and audio production is essential for any live televised production, but with golf the more challenging elements is clean communications,” he said. “We established a Hytera network with 40 two-radio radios and four channels each of inbound and outbound communications. That is where we really shine for golf, and it is so important given the number of acquisition points and production sites positioned around the course.”

CP Communications acquired and distributed all content over RF for delivery back to HD-21, where MultiDyne VF-9000 video fiber-optic transport frames received and processed the signals. CP technicians managed and switched the feeds in HD-21’s master control center before handing off to OKG, which provided the World Feed and other live broadcast services to TV networks and OTT services. That included four channels of video and multiple channels of audio distributed to the host broadcast facility in Germany.

“Golf is one of the toughest sports to produce, and CP Communications gave us very close to full coverage from tee to green across all holes on a hilly course that is challenging to cover,” said Chris Ohlmeyer, Executive Producer and Managing Partner for Olhmeyer Kusserow Group. “They executed a plan that allowed them to cleanly capture and run signals RF over fiber, while also supporting our own hard cameras over the same infrastructure. They came through with a professional operations and support team on short notice while also keeping us within budget. These were tall orders with only two weeks from first contact to tee off.”

— Brian Galante

EUREKA, CALIF. — Humboldt County-based streaming and podcast tech company StreamGuys has brought to market an upgrade to its HTML5-based SGplayer multimedia player.

Complementing SGplayer’s existing embeddable configuration, version 3.2 offers a new full-page layout mode that provides additional ways for radio broadcasters and content producers to connect with their audiencess.

Hosted and managed by StreamGuys, SGplayer offers content providers a full-featured, multi-format media player that they can incorporate into their websites to present live streams and on-demand content. SGplayer 3.2’s responsive user interface delivers listening experiences on desktop and mobile devices. Integration with StreamGuys’ SGrewind time-shifting technology allows listeners to pause, resume, and rewind live streams or jump back to the beginning of a recently streamed show through a scrollable and searchable program guide.

New engagement buttons in SGplayer 3.2’s full-page layout allow radio stations and podcasters to establish ongoing connections with their audiences. Listeners can quickly subscribe to podcasts through RSS feeds or third-party platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts, while a new Share button lets listeners easily propagate player links for their favorite live streams and on-demand content on popular social media networks and community forums. Enhanced search functionality allows consumers to find podcast episodes of interest by matching keywords to descriptions. The new full-page podcast presentation design can also showcase other podcast series from the same producer alongside the current episode list, encouraging listeners to discover and engage with more of the producer’s content.

Two new monetization features in SGplayer 3.2 supplement its existing support for dynamic advertising insertion. Content providers with existing e-commerce destinations can add a “Buy” button or link to the iTunes Store to allow listeners to immediately purchase products such as individual songs or albums. Customizable, clickable links can be added to live stream and podcast descriptions to take listeners to sponsors’ websites, event ticket sales portals, or any other online destination the content provider wishes.

“Broadcasters and podcast publishers are constantly striving to deepen their relationships with their listeners and expand the monetization of their content beyond traditional advertising,” said Eduardo Martinez, director of technology at StreamGuys. “SGplayer 3.2’s new full-page layout is the result of extensive research we conducted with our customers to optimize how we help them achieve those goals. Its new interface design and features enable audio enterprises to deliver differentiated, engaging audience experiences that will keep their listeners coming back for more.”

Radio Free Entertainment Network, Ltd. (RFEN) was one of the beta testers for SGplayer 3.2. “The new SGplayer enables scalable new opportunities for our marketing sales consultants and our clients,” said RFEN CEO Christavus Dominic. “It will help them increase their productivity and profits through features like customizable text and clickable links for sponsorships and promotional events.”

— Bodhi Hunt, in Arcata, Calif.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On November 15, the FCC adopted and released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update its rules for applicants proposing directional antenna facilities for FM and Low Power FM (LPFM) broadcast stations.

With the NPRM’s publication on Tuesday in the Federal Register, Comment and Reply Comment dates are now in effect.

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He’s known for his former role as SVP/Media Systems and IT Development for STARZ Entertainment LLC.

Now, he’s taking the newly created role of VP of Operations at the owner of 11 low-powered stations and two program networks, one bearing the name of the entire operation.

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In this document, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, in which it sought comment on proposals to change the rules governing verification of FM and Low Power FM (LPFM) directional antennas by broadcast station applicants. These specific rule changes were proposed based on a Petition for Rule Making filed by four antenna manufacturers and one broadcaster.

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On January 11, 2021, Beasley Media Group shares finished at $2.01. From that point through early November, BBGI would remain a rather steady issue on the Nasdaq GlobalMarket, with average prices in the mid-$2 range.

With Monday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, Beasley shares have nearly erased all of its 2021 momentum. As such, the stock is ever-closer to its pandemic-era lows and more than $11 per share below where it stood four years ago.

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The FCC’s Media Bureau has identified 231 MX groups, comprising some 883 applications, in its filing window for applications for new noncommercial educational (NCE) FM new station construction permits, which closed on November 9.

What’s next? A new window for settlements and technical amendments.

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