A Class A digital TV station serving the Nation’s Capital, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, has deployed NEXTGEN broadcast transmissions, making it the first facility in the market that’s home to the FCC.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — As previously reported, the filing window for applications for new noncommercial educational FM new station construction permits closed on November 9.
Some 1,282 applications were received; all were reviewed to identify singletons — applications that are not mutually exclusive with any other application filed in the window and can be accepted for filing. Some had defects, the Media Bureau says. And, those defective singleton applications have been dismissed.
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“The reality is: It’s hard out there for broadcasters.”
So said FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, speaking to a meeting of the Ohio Association of Broadcasters.
For the second time in a month, the Republican commissioner made public remarks that were notably sympathetic to radio and TV companies and their struggles when competing with big tech.
“Consider, you know, the smaller broadcasters. The folks who have one, two, or half a dozen stations. Consider how difficult it is for them to achieve efficiencies of scale — consider what their margins look like because they’re smaller operators. Now, is there a single online video platform that is a mom-and-pop operation? Of course not! Every single one is either backed by a massive tech platform, deep-pocketed venture capitalists, or a major network. If not, it’s out of business in a year. …
“Those platforms are competing with mom and pop broadcasters — or, shoot, even established station groups — with operating efficiencies, margins and capital markets backing of which broadcasters dare not dream,” Simington continued.
“Can we seriously think, at this moment, with the arrows pointing in the directions that they are, that we should be making it harder for these small, regulated entities to operate? You are all already burdened by a raft of regulations designed for a bygone era while your insurgent online competitors have functionally none of the same constraints. Should we now turn the screw?”
[See more of our coverage of the FCC.]
Simington noted that the FCC will soon again consider media regulation in a quadrennial proceeding. Echoing frequent arguments made by the NAB about how the commission defines broadcasters’ marketplace, Simingon said that the commission needs to recognize that online media platforms are growing rapidly “and threaten dominance over traditional media platforms,” and that “broadcast advertising revenue has flatlined, having been siphoned off from higher margin online platforms.”
The commissioner said he is “not necessarily” arguing for more regulation of big tech — “Not everything is a regulatory problem. Maybe this one is. I don’t know” — but he said regulators need to be “clear-eyed about where the power has shifted. It is away from broadcasters. Away from networks. Even away from traditional MVPDs. And toward online platforms. And if we are going to talk about serving as a check against uncontrolled concentration of media power that is presumably antithetical to consumer welfare — well. The conversation need not end at online platforms, but it must at least start with them.”
Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post Simington: Don’t Turn the Screw on Broadcasters appeared first on Radio World.
In August, the NAB; Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC); and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging a FCC order mandating disclosures for foreign government-sponsored programming.
On Wednesday (12/8) the FCC’s Media Bureau, led by Michelle Carey, issued an Order denying a stay petition filed by the three groups — a move that only furthers growing tension between the nation’s largest broadcast media advocacy group and the agency now officially led by Jessica Rosenworcel.
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Read about all the products nominated for our awards program, including the Radio World winners announced in the fall of 2021.
This is the award program that normally is held at the spring NAB Show, which was postponed to this fall and later cancelled.
The guide is a great way to catch up on the new products of 2022 across radio and related industries.
The post Best in Market 2021 Program Guide appeared first on Radio World.
In what some may call a direct admonition of Elliot Evers‘ “CXR Radio Station Trust” and its lobbying efforts to the FCC conducted by respected communications attorney David Oxenford, the Chief of the Media Bureau has ordered the divestment of two FM radio stations in Florida to transpire no more than 60 days past the current deadline date of December 17.
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Colleagues are remembering Texas-based radio engineer Gary Wachter, who died in November. He was 65.
According to his friend and fellow engineer Melissa Hussel, Wachter had carcinoma cancer and died at home. He is survived by his son, Matt, of South Carolina.
Wachter was chief engineer of Service Broadcasting in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and a familiar face at SBE Chapter 67 meetings.
Hussel said Wachter, whose mother was a German citizen, was born in Waco but spent part of his childhood in Germany. He remembered hanging around the projector booth of the movie theater on a military base, fascinated by the carbon arc projectors; late in life he would find enough parts to make his own at home.
Back in the United States Wachter entered the radio business in high school and was on the air in Corpus Christi using the name Wires Wachter; he worked at KEYS(AM) and KRYS(AM) as well as the local PBS station.
Discovering he enjoyed technical work more, he took an engineering job at KTSA(AM) in San Antonio around 1976, working there until 1984 as chief engineer, a stint that included a full studio buildout and installation of a Kahn AM stereo system. Subsequently he worked as chief at KFYI(AM) and KKFR(FM) in Phoenix, where he built out studios in a former TV station.
Around 2000 he came to Dallas and started as chief at Service Broadcasting, which owns KKDA(AM/FM) and KRNB(FM) nearby. Wachter led a facility move from Grand Prairie to Arlington, Texas, that involved another studio buildout, and handled an FM antenna upgrade for KRNB.
“He was very driven,” she said. “A fellow engineer once said that his transmitter suite was ‘so clean, you could eat off the floor,’ and he wasn’t wrong. Gary had a high work ethic, and always went above and beyond.”
Colleague and longtime friend Mike Chittenden said Wachter also wrote a software program for a Gentner VRC transmitter remote control and a screener program for Telos phone systems.
Messages to his family can be posted at the website of Rolling Oaks Funeral Home.
The post Gary Wachter Dies, Engineer in Southwest U.S. appeared first on Radio World.
All those forms — long and short, pre- and post-auction — must be filed on time when applying for a new construction permit with the Federal Communications Commission.
That’s the situation a licensee finds itself in after applying for a new FM broadcast construction permit in Hugo, Colo.
ScarboroughRadio LLC took part in the July auction (known as Auction 109) and was deemed to be a winning bidder of the Hugo permit. Winning bidders were required to file a post-auction long-form application — specifically FCC Form 2100, Schedule 301. And bidders were reminded through a Public Notice that if a winning bidder fails to submit the required application before the deadline — and also fails to establish a good reason for the delay — their application will be dismissed and they will be subject to a forfeiture payment.
In Scarborough’s case, it submitted its long-form application more than two weeks past the deadline, according to the FCC. It also did not request any sort of waiver to explain the late filing.
As a result, the Media Bureau sent a notice of apparent liability for forfeiture to Scarborough after finding that the licensee violated the FCC rules by failing to file the post-auction Form 2100 application on time.
[See more of our coverage of FCC actions.]
Ordinarily, as the Media Bureau has said, a winning bidder that fails to file the required long-form application on time is deemed to be in default. That typically means that the application is dismissed and the licensee is subject to payments laid out in the commission’s rules.
But sometimes special circumstances might lead the bureau to determine that a late-filed application can still be accepted. In this case, the bureau noted that Scarborough complied with all previous Auction 109 requirements. The bureau also noted that the licensee made a late payment on the balance of its auction bid just before filing its long-form application. And it said that the FM licensing process was not significantly delayed by Scarborough’s late filing.
“We find it in the public interest to avoid a delay in implementing new service to Hugo, Colo., by having to re-auction the FM construction permit, and therefore on our own motion grant a waiver as discussed below,” the bureau said in the order it released.
However, even though the commission agreed to accept the late-filed long-form application, the bureau still found that Scarborough failed to comply with the rules and said it would grant the construction application on the premise that Scarborough will submit a $3,000 forfeiture.
The licensee has 30 days to either pay or file a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation.
Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post Late Form Leads to $3,000 Forfeiture for Auction Winner appeared first on Radio World.
The author is project director for WorldDAB.
With the recent COP26 conference in Glasgow highlighting the global need to tackle climate change, a new study from Germany has showed how digital radio can help broadcasters reduce energy usage. Describing DAB+ as “green radio,” the report says on broadcasting a single service, between 70 and 90 percent of energy can be saved by switching from FM to DAB+.
The Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting (BLM) and the Bavarian Public Broadcaster, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), in partnership with network operators and receiver manufacturers, compared the energy consumption of broadcasting and receiving radio programs via FM and DAB+.
In Bavaria, all services by private radio providers and BR are available via DAB+. With around 13 million inhabitants, 16 percent of Germany’s population lives in the state.
The studies showed that, with a comparable supply, the energy consumption when broadcasting a program via DAB+ is significantly lower than FM. BR would save around 75 percent per station, while Antenne Bayern would save 85 percent in energy if its audio service were broadcast exclusively via DAB+. Other providers in Germany see similar potential reductions.
Given the extensive infrastructure that radio broadcasting operates, the research found that the cumulative resulting effect is considerable.
The report also identified that significant energy savings would also be possible by replacing Germany’s 122 million FM radios. Although most new receivers are often equipped with additional functions such as displays or wi-fi, their power consumption has dropped by around 40 percent in recent years.
The findings of the report, “Green Radio: A Comparison of Energy Consumption on FM and DAB+” were featured at the recent WorldDAB Summit, which saw the publication of an English-language translation of the report.
[See our coverage WorldDAB Summit 2021]
Concentration of DAB Stations Across Germany as of January 2021 (Courtesy WorldDAB)Speaking at the Summit to 500 delegates from around the world, Veit Olischläger, head of technology, media management and public relations at BLM, said: “As we know, climate change is a challenge for all of us. We asked what broadcasters can do — so we made an examination of the potential savings of energy consumption for transmission, FM versus DAB+, and reception.”
“Broadcasting via DAB+ saves up to 90 percent of energy,” added Olischläger. “And regardless of DAB+, the greatest energy saving effects would be achieved just by replacing older FM sets.”
In Bavaria, 42 percent of the population aged 14 and over already have at least one DAB+ receiver in their household.
Radio World invites industry-oriented commentaries and responses. Send to Radio World.
The post Digital Radio Tackles Green Challenge appeared first on Radio World.
Tournament Town has turned the page on how local broadcast television can be distributed and received by viewers.
Thanks, in part, to broadcast data network builder BitPath, the NEXTGEN TV train has rolled into Greensboro-Winston Salem. And, the market debut for NEXTGEN TV involves Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Hearst Television.
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Until August, he was Chief Marketing Officer at Publicis-owned Epsilon. Earlier in his career, he spent some 3 years in a similar role at what is now TEGNA Marketing Solutions.
Now, he’s the CMO for a SaaS provider working with broadcast media in the digital realm.
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“As we reach the end of 2021, advertising growth is showing much faster expansion than previously anticipated, driven primarily by growth in the U.S., U.K. and China.”
That’s the highly optimistic conclusion of distinguished Global President of Business Intelligence at groupM, Brian Wieser, who recently appeared on the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.
Where do television and audio advertising measure up? He’s crunched the numbers and has some intriguing conclusions. For audio industry players, the future isn’t so bright.
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NEW YORK — When it comes to radio programming executives most closely associated to superserving the African American consumer across the New York Tri-State Area, none perhaps comes close in recent memory to Skip Dillard.
For the past year, Dillard has served as VP of National and Community Partnerships for iconic Adult R&B FM WBLS and its hip-hop sibling, WQHT (Hot 97), under the ownership of Mediaco, the joint venture between Soo Kim’s Standard General and Jeff Smulyan’s Emmis Communications. For 12 years before that, Dillard was VP of Programming and Operations Manager for WBLS and Emmis-owned WLIB-AM in New York.
Now, Dillard has moved to 345 Hudson Street, and is now the Brand Manager for recently launched Rhythmic Adult Contemporary and classic hip-hop formatted WXBK-FM “94.7 The Block.”
The move solidifies the musical direction of the station, which is mass appeal and designed to attract Millennials who were raised on Ice Cube, Jay-Z, SWV, Ja Rule, 2PAC, and Aaliyah. Dillard will oversee WXBK’s full portfolio of broadcast, digital and live experience assets.
In explaining the selection of Dillard to lead “The Block,” Audacy/New York SVP/Market Manager Chris Oliviero said, “Skip knows the music, the artists, the community and this city and has a depth of knowledge and relationships that make him the premiere choice to be the building block for this new brand. His arrival solidifies our commitment to making classic hip hop and throwbacks a vibrant sound on the New York dial, and we are excited to welcome him to The Block.”
Dillard added, “I am truly grateful for the opportunity to join the Audacy team here in New York City. There’s nothing quite like the chance to build a new, fun and exciting station for the greater New York City area that will be rooted in the community. I am honored to accept the challenge.”
Dillard’s career in radio began at Hampton University’s WHOV-FM 88.1 as a student, working at the Smooth Jazz FM serving the Norfolk area. Early in his career, he worked in multiple radio markets as both a talent and programmer. Among the stations on Dillard’s resume: WPGC-FM in Washington, D.C.; WOWI-FM in Norfolk; WMXD-FM in Detroit: WBLK-FM in Buffalo; and WYLD-FM in New Orleans. He was recently reappointed to his second two-year term to serve on the FCC‘s Communications Equity and Diversity Council.
In a recent interview with AllAccess.com, Dillard was asked when and why he decided to go into radio. He replied, “I was a music junkie who’s love of radio as a child drove me to try out for my college radio station at Hampton. I failed the first audition, but someone said, ‘let’s give him one more try.’ After graduation, it seemed like every door opening for me was coming from the radio industry regardless of whatever else I tried (law enforcement, Air traffic controller, Ad agency rep, video producer, etc.).”
Also asked what frustrates him the most about the radio and the music industry, Dillard replied, “Lack of vision at times from the top and lack of investment in people. We’re also sometimes too slow to innovate.”
Now, Dillard will have the chance to innovate at a station that on October 22 dropped Country to embrace programming that would have broader appeal in the Big Apple.
Sennheiser has introduced its new HD 400 PRO studio reference headphones, intended for use in mixing, editing and mastering applications.
Built around a lightweight, open-back design fitted with soft velour ear pads, they are the first open studio headphones in Sennheiser’s PRO line, and offer a wide frequency response of 6 to 38,000 Hz.
The Sennheiser-developed 120-ohm transducers include a diaphragm made from a proprietary polymer blend; working with the headphones’ driver magnets, according to Sennheiser, the diaphragm is expected to provide deeper bass. Distortion is below 0.05% (measured at 1 kHz, 90 dB SPL), and the headphones are said to accurately reproduces audio beyond the audible frequency range.
[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]
The headphone transducers sit at a slight angle, aiming to emulate the triangular listening position used when listening to monitor loudspeakers in a studio. This, along with the open-back design of the headphones is intended to provide a neutral soundstage.
The headphones are built around an ultra-light frame; the earcups feature soft velour earpads and the open, circumaural design offers ventilation for ears during long mixing sessions. The headphones come with a 3-meter coiled cable and a 1.8-meter straight cable, both fitted with a 3.5 mm (1/8″) jack plug for portable sources. A 6.3 mm (1/4″) adapter is included, ensuring that the HD 400 PRO connects to a typical mixing desk or audio interface.
The HD 400 PRO is available now and retails at US $249 (MSRP).
Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post Sennheiser HD 400 PRO Studio Headphones Debut appeared first on Radio World.
Consultant Frank Hertel of Newman-Kees RF Measurement needed to create a special audio interface recently.
He said he was not aware of a protocol for wiring Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve connectors, which are prevalent on laptop computers with only one audio jack.
The first image shows the difference between the typical Tip-Ring-Sleeve, with which most readers are familiar, and Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve connectors.
What surprised Frank was that the positive voltage for powering the electret mic is on the Sleeve of the Tip-Ring-Sleeve-Sleeve connector, and the Shield/Common/Ground connection for the electret mic and left and right outputs for the headphones are on one of the Ring connections, the one closest to the Sleeve (which, remember, is the positive voltage for powering the electret mic).
Therefore, if you want to connect any audio source other than the electret mic, you will need to add a DC blocking capacitor between the Sleeve and the hot phase wire of your external audio source (since that source does not require a DC voltage).
The hot signal wire from that source connects to the Sleeve of the Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve connector, through the blocking capacitor.
Frank said with a laugh that the protocol seems so foreign to the common one we used for years, in which the Sleeve is the connection for the Shield/Common/Ground. He suspects someone had a hangover when they decided to come up with this one.
He adds this note: When connecting an external audio source via the DC blocking capacitor, you may need to attach a resistor between the Sleeve (input) and the Ring (Shield/Common/Ground). If some current doesn’t flow between these connections, the computer’s input may not be activated. If you find that a resistor is required, a 2.2 K-ohm should do the job.
Computers vary. The best approach may be to add a 10 MFD DC blocking capacitor in series with the high lead of the external audio device, as well as the 2.2 K-ohm resistor connected across the Sleeve and the Ring terminals.
What is your experience? Email your thoughts to johnpbisset@gmail.com.
Stop the sound of silence
Contract and projects engineer Dan Slentz enjoys sharing clever, inexpensive ways of doing things.
He told us about a freeware silence sensor from Pira.cz. The software monitors the presence of an audio signal on a stereo program line or PC soundcard. When no signal is present for a specified time, pre-defined solutions activate.
This is useful for monitoring an STL feed or hard-drive playout system where continuous audio is required. If the audio drops below your chosen threshold, the Pira.cz Silence Detector will switch to a backup and notify you with an email alert.
Next, with COVID easing, you may see guests returning to your studios. If so, you know the importance of a “cough switch” on each microphone.
Dan found a compact, reasonably priced aluminum box that permits the user to toggle the mic on and off, so the box has dual usage — for the “Voice of God” in a stage manager’s TV studio setting, or a momentary mute cough switch for individual mics in an interview studio. Built for the pro audio industry, it is from AudioMan Products. At audiomanproducts.com, scroll down to “Push to Talk Ver. 2.”
Dan says the muting of the mic is quiet — no pops or clicks when the mute button is depressed. Plus, construction is solid, and it’s built with Neutrik XLR connectors.
The AudioMan Push to Talk Ver. 2 will work with dynamic or phantom-powered condenser microphones wired with balanced three-pin connectors. I’ve saved the best part for last: Push to Talk Ver. 2 is just $59, and quantity discounts are available.
An ideal addition to any talk/interview studio.
What’s the frequency, Workbench?
Finally, Tektronix is offering a free download of its colorful Worldwide Spectrum Allocations poster. We thank Brad Ohdner of Tektronix for sharing this resource with Workbench readers.
You can download this Tektronix Frequency Allocations Chart.John Bisset, CPBE, has more than 50 years of broadcast experience and is in his 31st year at the Radio World 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.
The post T-R-R-S: A new computer wiring protocol? appeared first on Radio World.
A new IPAWS planning toolkit has been made available for alerting authorities and broadcasters interested in learning more about the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.
Using the program planning toolkit, alerting agencies can create a customized plan tailored to their agency’s operational capabilities. The kit contains step-by-step directions for creating an alerting program plan and offers customized resources, best practices and program templates to aid federal, state, local, tribal and territorial groups as they’re developing their individual alerting programs.
[Read more from us about IPAWS]
The toolkit was developed by the Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s IPAWS system.
“Getting information to the public in a timely manner saves lives,” the IPAWS staff wrote in an email introducing the new application.
“The new toolkit will assist public safety agencies in developing comprehensive alerting plans that minimize alerting delay challenges; plan for future alerts, warnings, and notifications enhancements; facilitate interoperability across different technologies; and improve information sharing among emergency management and public safety officials.”
The post New Emergency Alerting Toolkit Introduced for IPAWS appeared first on Radio World.
ATLANTA – Gray Television has expanded its National Investigative Team, known as InvestigateTV.
This saw a series of promotions and additions to the team.
The National Investigative Team intends to add an additional reporter and a photographer early next year.
“The expansion of our National Investigative Unit reinforces our commitment to strong
investigative journalism,” Gray Television Senior Vice President Sandy Breland said. “We’re proud of the work of this unit that is having a real impact in the communities we serve.”
The National Investigative Team/InvestigateTV produces stories for Gray’s 113 television stations and the InvestigateTV OTT App on Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV. Early
this year, the team debuted a weekly InvestigateTV show that airs on all Gray stations.
InvestigateTV launched in 2018 and provides innovative, original journalism from a
dedicated investigative team and partners, including ProPublica, News21 at Arizona State
University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, and NerdWallet. It is available on Roku, Amazon
Fire, at InvestigateTV.com and across Gray’s broadcast and digital media properties.
Radio World is taking an in-depth look at “The Infinite Dial UK 2021” report this week.
Welcome to Part Three of Radio World’s summation of Edison Research’s “The Infinite Dial UK 2021”. In this installment, online audio listening by U.K. consumers is the focus.
The data comes from Edison Research President Larry Rosen’s online webinar, which was held Dec. 2, 2021, to release the findings of “The Infinite Dial UK 2021” survey.
The report is based on 1,000 telephone interviews with U.K. residents 16 and older, during the fourth quarter of 2021.
[Read more of our coverage of the “Infinite Dial” report]
U.K. online audio listening
According to Rosen, “75 percent of people in the U.K. age 16 and older told us that they’ve listened to some form of audio online in the last month.”
Online Audio Listening in the U.K. by Age Group (Courtesy Edison Research)This usage is relatively consistent across age groups, he noted. “It’s highest for 16–34, as you might expect, at 81 percent. But even for 55+, 72 percent of people said they’ve listened to some form of online audio in the month before we called them for this survey.”
The 35–54 age group clocked in at 74 percent.
Intriguingly, a higher percentage of U.K. 16+ consumers listened to online audio in the past month (75 percent) than did U.S. 16+ consumers (68 percent).
In fact, “the U.K. number is the highest of any of the four English-speaking countries [U.K., U.S., Australia and Canada] where we have this data,” Rosen said. Australia’s 16+ monthly online audio listenership rate was 73 percent, while in Canada (18+) it stood at 71 percent.
Online Audio Listening by Country (Courtesy Edison Research)The U.K.’s weekly listenership to online audio was similarly strong — 66 percent for all listeners 16+. Again, the spread was relatively consistent among age groups: 72 percent for 16–34; 65 percent for 35–54; and 62 percent for 55+.
At 66 percent overall, the U.K.’s weekly 16+ online listenership rate tied with Australia’s 16+ rate. The U.S. 16+ rate was 62 percent, while Canada 18+ was 61 percent.
Overall, when it comes to online audio listening, “the adoption seems to be as high in the U.K. as in any other place that we’ve surveyed,” Rosen said.
In Part Four of Radio World’s summary of “The Infinite Dial UK 2021,” we’ll look at the U.K.’s consumption of in-car media.
The post ‘Infinite Dial UK’ Digs into U.K. Online Audio appeared first on Radio World.
He has more than 30 years of experience in radio, television and small business ownership and has most recently served as VP of Sales for iHeartMedia in Milwaukee.
Now, this longtime ad sales pro has been tapped as SVP of Sales for both Milwaukee and Madison by the nation’s No. 1 licensee of radio stations.
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We’re pleased to announce that Roswell Clark is the recipient of Radio World’s Excellence in Engineering Award for 2021–22.
Recipients represent the highest ideals of the radio broadcast engineering profession and reflect those ideals through contributions to the industry. Roz Clark is the 18th person we’ve honored.
We are recognizing Roz for his accomplishments as senior director of radio engineering for Cox Media Group. In choosing honorees, we also look for people who are making a difference right now in our industry and whose work will benefit engineers in years to come.
Radio World readers know from our news coverage and ebook interviews that Roz is doing just that in his work with the NAB Radio Technology Committee’s Next-Generation Architecture Working Group.
We’re also honoring him for his important contributions to the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society, the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the National Radio Systems Committee and the Nielsen Technical Advisory Committee.
Given his decades of work on behalf of his employer as well as the broader world of radio, he is a worthy recipient.
“Technology is our business”
Clark, 59, oversees the technology aspects of Cox’s broadcast radio operations — “anything electrons flows through,” as he told me — which encompasses about 60 FM and AM signals in 11 markets.
Cox employs about two dozen technology team members in its markets.
“Anything to do with technology is our business,” Roz said. “Email servers, networks, broadcast, they’re all so intermarried that it’s difficult otherwise to make sure responsibility is properly focused and maintained.”
Roz is one of five senior directors who report to SVP/CIO Mark Beck and oversee areas such as radio, TV and network infrastructure, meeting weekly to coordinate and establish roadmaps. The radio market directors of engineering generally answer to local general managers and interact with Roz on a “dotted line” basis, though he has a few direct reports as well.
“It’s one big conversation. A finance product or an email function may be critical, but broadcast is real time and it needs to be completely seamless — that’s a whole different level of focus and attention. How do these systems interact with each other, and how do we safely connect them?”
[Read more about past Excellent in Engineering Award winners]
Meeting that challenge is a high bar, as broadcast engineers know well, but it also extends to software and anything that has a network connection. “We have to be very careful about the technologies we employ — that they’re actually suited and designed for such real-time functionality.”
When Cox Enterprises sold its majority interest to Apollo Global Management in late 2019, Roz also began to play larger role in the business continuity management for all of Cox Media Group, based on his experience dealing with Florida hurricanes and writing articles and giving presentations about disaster planning.
“We had tabletop exercises, getting key stakeholders together and talking about scenarios: What if your building caught fire and burned to the ground? What if your tower fell down?”
They even put together a scenario for a worldwide pandemic like bird flu — not expecting that within two months they would be activating it because of COVID-19.
Getting started
On the 1,500-foot tower supporting a new FM master antenna in Tampa in 2001.Roz Clark wasn’t one of those people who knew at age 5 that he wanted to be a radio engineer. “I’ve always been a curious cat about how things work under the hood, but I wasn’t building Heathkit radios at home.”
He studied electronics in a two-year program at what is now Truman University in Kirksville, Mo. He then moved to Florida and ran a business selling and servicing C-Band downlink systems.
It was at this time that his uncle Max Sitero, the chief engineer at the local CBS O&O, urged Roz to give radio a try.
“This was in the days when the getting into the business as an engineer was very difficult. You had to have the First Class FCC license and a track record just for someone to answer your phone call.”
But his uncle’s passion and interest in broadcast were contagious. Sitero helped young Roz a part-time job. It turned out to be a great place to start.
CBS-owned WSUN(AM) was a full-service, country-formatted station and flagship of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, served by the world’s first AM directional array. Its sister station WYNF(FM) was a rocker with a popular, high-energy morning show, big-time concerts and lots of remotes.
“To work at this AM/FM combo was unbelievable. I mean, really? Many people had to work in small markets for many, many years, but I got my foot in the door at an epic AM/FM owned by CBS. It was a big deal.”
There he met two people who would play important roles in his life. One was his future wife Bobbie. The other was Chief Engineer Frank Berry, who mentored Roz and encouraged him to learn.
“Getting inside a radio station and seeing how all this technology worked together — it was all so exciting,” he said.
“I’m interested in everything from generators and power distribution to air conditioning and you name it. Everything comes together in a broadcast facility. I still feel like a kid in this business.
Roz Clark hangs out with actor Michael Richards, aka Kramer of “Seinfeld,” at a remote in 1989.“Even today I just got off the phone talking about three completely different technology challenges and how to solve them. If you’re interested in solving puzzles or in having a different experience every day, I don’t think there’s any business more diverse than broadcasting — audio, RF, power distribution and computer networks, it goes on and on. The sky’s the limit on where your interests can take you.”
One thing he is not interested in is being on the air. This was squeezed out of him early. While waiting for a full-time position to open up at WSUN/WYNF, he took a gig as a board op at another station — playing from reel-to-reels and cart machines, recording the top of the hour, taking AM readings, fielding calls for the talk show host. And Roz didn’t like it.
“I was in nervous-sweat panic mode every second of that job. It was a nightmare for me. I understood how the equipment worked; but trying to make sure the content flowed and the on-air person got what he needed, making sure you didn’t forget to play the commercial, was very stressful.
“I have a great appreciation for board ops and people on the air, because as soon as that job option opened to get behind the curtain I was out of there. It was not for me!”
To Infinity and then back
Roz worked full-time at the CBS station for two years as assistant chief engineer, and loved the organization. Yet in 1988 he left to take part in an exciting engineering project.
Frank Berry had moved over to work at Infinity Broadcasting, which had studios a few doors away. Berry tempted him with the promise of working on the overhaul of WCBF, a recently acquired 50 kW AM facility.
As related by the website radioyears.com, Berry took that station off the air for an extended period to do a complete rebuild of the transmitter facility, including all of the towers, and gutting and reconfiguring the building, then installing new audio processors, STL gear, phasing and tuning equipment and remote control. The studios also were upgraded.
“Frank said, ‘We’re going to take this thing apart and it’s going to be off the air for four months while we completely rebuild it, studios and all,’” Roz related.
“Some readers might hear this story and say, ‘AM? What, are you crazy?’ But to build a 50 kilowatt station from the ground up within a span of four months, and do it right, with Frank Berry, and with consulting engineers like Alan Gearing, who were just masterminds — it was a great experience, never to be repeated.”
The station relaunched as WQYK; today it is owned by Beasley and has the call letters WHFS.
After that time with Infinity, Roz came back to CBS in 1992 to become director of technical operations at WYNF. It looked now as though he’d be with CBS for the long term — until the organization announced it had agreed to swap its Tampa properties with a Cox station in Dallas, and the local CBS employees were let go.
“I didn’t even reapply because I figured Cox had their own plans, but a week before they assumed control, they called me up and said, ‘Aren’t you going to apply for this job?’ So I did, in the role of assistant engineer.”
How do “solve for that”
Working a remote with air talent Jack Russell, right, for 620 WSUN(AM), circa 1985.Since that time Roz has been a bulwark at Cox. He has been based in Tampa his entire career and worked his way up to chief engineer, then director of technical operations for Tampa (and later Orlando as well), and then to his current role as the company’s senior director of radio engineering.
During his tenure he has worked on numerous important internal issues including IT security, automation standardization, RF safety policies and broadcast data transmission under the wise leadership of Sterling Davis.
Roz wrote a mission statement to hang on his office wall to remind himself that the goal is not just to do good engineering, it’s to help the company meet its business challenges.
“How can we ‘solve for that’? Whether it’s your cell phone or your car or rockets, everything is about how technology can solve these sorts of puzzles, which seem to be insurmountable until you get smart people together.”
For example one memorable engineering project came about when Clear Channel acquired Jacor in the late 1990s and had to divest itself of several stations. Cox, which had three signals in Tampa, suddenly had six and decided to integrate them.
“Right about that time, my boss at Cox resigned. So I was the only engineer during a transition where we were taking over three stations. It was an exciting time, to say the least.
“We had to build radio stations from scratch. We built one in a closet and barely got it on the air — literally at the stroke of midnight, with the general manager walking around with the camcorder, all excited. We hit the post, so to speak, technically. No one knew the drama that was going on behind the curtain.”
During this time he has continued to expand his skill set, earning credentials as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, SBE Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer and SBE Certified Broadcast Network Engineer. He has twice won his employer’s Engineer of the Year honor.
Today he spends a lot of his time envisioning the future of the radio air chain, both at Cox and across the industry. When I asked him how engineers and managers can be better prepared for that future, he mentions certain core concepts to keep front of mind.
“Our businesses run on processes. People throw around buzzwords like cloud, but pretty much everything we do, whether it’s in an appliance or not, is software of some sort. We as engineers need to understand how the signal flows and how the business processes work. That includes remote systems management, remote broadcast and broadcasting from home.
“Then it’s the technologies of networking, whether it’s transporting real-time content or connecting systems together; these are so important. Then how do you configure or design systems so they are very secure — who’s allowed to do what, at what time and where — ‘managing identity.’
“And then monitoring and control. If we don’t know the system status of all of our assets, the critical parameters and how to react to those measurements, we’ve got a problem.”
To manage these facets efficiently, Roz said, a business must standardize where it can, so Cox Media Group is taking that concept to the next level, not only choosing to buy the same products or software across its various stations, but thinking more broadly about the company’s 60 stations as being part of one big market. “We can get the best solutions and put them across every market and have the best results in a consistent manner.” For Cox that doesn’t mean sweeping centralization as much as it means consistency and efficiency in the business approach.
Like all good radio technologists, Roz is also concerned that the medium keep its place in the dashboard and stay competitive in how it presents its product to consumers.
Given the emergence of hybrid radio systems that meld broadcast reception with online connectivity, he thinks consistency in the listener experience is crucial, which means broadcasters should be paying attention to metadata.
“It requires a deeper understanding by content creators and managers, to understand the technical capabilities of the different delivery mechanisms and make sure that we exploit and standardize that capability.”
For example Cox was an early participant in RadioDNS. It also signed on with Quu’s visual programming service, and it supports Xperi’s DTS AutoStage initiative, which Roz says does a “mind-blowing” job of presenting visual information to the listener.
“I don’t believe we should stake our ground in one thing in the digital world; we have to have relationships with all of these platforms, because not one solution fills all the holes.”
Business partners
Almost three decades since “flipping” to Cox, he remains a huge fan of the company.
“I can’t say enough about Cox as a whole and about Cox Media Group. It continues to do things right, empowering people and investing in them.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work with general managers who have a deep appreciation for engineering and the part it plays in the business. Keith Lawless, who now manages multiple markets for Cox, once described me to someone as a business partner. That’s a huge compliment. If the culture of your company appreciates the partnership that we in technology have with the business, that’s a big thing. I can tell you that, in Cox Media Group, we’re very much part of business decisions and strategy.”
Roz gives back to his profession in numerous ways.
He has delivered several papers and chaired sessions for the NAB Show, and he was involved in an NAB group that researched the use of separate antennas for HD Radio, a concept he conceived known as space combining.
For the NAB Radio Technology Committee, he chaired the HD Time Alignment group that developed a best practice document that was adopted by the NRSC. Today he chairs the Next-Generation Architecture group, helping the industry to learn how to put concepts like virtualization and the cloud to work in their air chains.
For the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Roz is an elected board member, chair of its finance committee and a member of the executive officers committee. In 2015 he was honored as the SBE Engineer of the Year. At Chapter 39 he has held multiple offices including that of chairman.
In the early 2000s he was actively involved in the Media Reliability and Security Council and the integration of
local Emergency Operations Centers in the Tampa Bay area into the EAS system. He has represented CMG in EAS Operational Areas 7 and 8.
Since 2009 he has been an active member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Symposium; he chaired the event for three years and was an elected member of its ADCOM for two years.
He is the technical representative for CMG in the Broadcasters’ Traffic Consortium. He also is a ham radio operator, WA4YNF, and serves on the board of a repeater network that serves a large part of Florida.
A lifestyle choice
Bobbie Clark holds grandson Lincoln, flanked by sons Justin, left, and Brandon.When I asked him to describe his management personality, he replied, “I try to treat others as I would want to be treated. And at Cox there’s a culture of getting the right person and empowering them, giving them the tools they need and then letting them do their job.
“That sounds really easy, but it’s not,” he continued. “Technology is challenging, but the most important thing is getting the right people doing the right things — giving the right leaders the right boundaries and allowing them to do their job, supported by coaching and followup. For instance, recognizing that some people are more creative than task-driven.
“You have to understand the technology too — invest in reading, trade shows, learning from vendors and adjacent businesses. We have to lead by example with that,” he said.
“But we also have to make sure people are given the flexibility and freedom to execute and be successful on their own.”
Outside of radio, Roz enjoys camping and the great outdoors, and is active in his church. He also restores muscle cars and still owns a 1967 GTO that he purchased 40 years ago.
Roz and Bobbie have two grown sons, one of whom is a mechanical engineer, the other a business/marketing professional, as well as two small grandchildren.
Would he encourage a young person to get into radio broadcast technology today?
“It’s not like any other type of engineering job. If you’re interested in all sorts of technology, the answer would be yes — but understand that it’s a lifestyle choice.”
Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.
Excellence Honor Roll2004 Andy Andreson
2005 Mike Starling
2006 John Lyons
2007 Clay Freinwald
2008 Jeff Littlejohn
2009 Gary Kline
2010 Milford Smith
2011 Barry Thomas
2012 Paul Brenner
2013 Marty Garrison
2014 Wayne Pecena
2015 David H. Layer
2016–17 Michael Cooney
2017–18 Larry Wilkins
2018–19 Russ Mundschenk
2019–20 Dave Kolesar
2020–21 Jason Ornellas
2021–22 Roz Clark
The post Roz Clark Embodies Business Continuity at Cox appeared first on Radio World.
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