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The author is technical manager of National FM. This article is part of our recent Buyer’s Guide series on codecs and STLs.

BUCHAREST, Romania — National FM is a Romanian national FM radio network consisting of 40 frequencies covering most of the nation.

In 2007, at my yearly visit to the IBC show I met Simon Daniels from APT, a company that I knew nothing about.

At the time, we were using a software solution from another company to broadcast a morning show from one city to another. Simon told me that they had a hardware solution for “every now and then” audio transmissions.

One of APT’s tech wizards, I believe it was Willie Woodside, warned me that he wouldn’t recommend a 24/7 transmission via plain internet but that I should still try out a pair of their encoders. A couple of months later I received a message saying that a pair of APT Horizon codecs (renamed as APT IP Codec) were on their way to me for testing purposes … no strings attached.

After a few days of indoor testing I decided to put them on the air so I sent one of the units to another city 500 kilometers/300 miles away from the main studio.

Even knowing that the internet in Romania is one of the best in the world, I still had my doubts about the stability of the connection during a three-hour show. Remember that this was happening in 2008!

After a buffer increase, creating bigger delay but better stability, the Horizons became the main signal transport between our studios and we kept the software solution as a backup.

A few years later APT became part of WorldCast Systems and I was delighted to see that Simon and Willie were still there … answering my occasional emails.

In the meantime, we bought more encoders for our infrastructure. We are now using a pair of APT IP Codecs with MPX over AES to transport music from the main audio processor to our Bucharest transmitter site. The transmitter there is an Ecreso Helios FM 2000 (now named Ecreso FM 2000W).

Another pair of APT IP Codecs connect Bucharest and Oradea via the public internet.

Our sister network, Favorit FM, uses the APT Silver “simplex — one-way solution” to bring the signal from the studio to the satellite uplink site.

And … the big surprise … the pair of APT IP Codecs that started it all are still in service.

In this pandemic time, we built a mobile studio in our off-road Rover. It is able to broadcast from anywhere where there is an LTE (4G) signal. We are currently doing the morning show from outside, in a natural environment, until the situation stabilizes or winter comes.

The old Horizons are still doing an excellent job, over 4G or public internet, depending on what’s available in different locations.

We are very pleased also with WorldCast Systems’ Ecreso family of transmitters. We have in service more than 10 units, 100W, 300W, 750W, 1000W, 2000W and 3000W models. The web interface works like a charm and the options can be very helpful (sound processor or Smart FM option).

The company’s only products that we haven’t used so far are the Audemat monitoring equipment that look to be quite exquisite. But the Ecreso transmitters have great onboard monitoring tools for modulation, audio and other parameters.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

For information, contact Tony Peterle at WorldCast Systems in Florida at 1-305-249-3110 or Christophe Poulain in France at +33-5-57-92-89-28 or visit www.worldcastsystems.com.

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In this document, the Commission eliminates the Engineering Division of the Media Bureau and folds it into the Bureau's Industry Analysis Division. We take this step to account for changes in the Engineering Division's duties and in the organizational structure of the Commission. Incorporating the work and staff of the Engineering Division into the Industry Analysis Division is meant to ensure that the Bureau's technical expertise is integrated more fully into the Bureau's adjudicatory matters and policy proceedings. The intended effect of this action is to streamline the Media Bureau's operations by simplifying its organizational structure, reduce management redundancies by improving the supervisor-to-employee ratio, and encourage more interaction and collaboration within the Bureau.

The MultiCam Airbridge+ is a hardware-based video controller, call-in manager, character generator and streaming engine. The company calls it a complete “all-in-one” video package.

According to MultiCam it can handle four live feeds and manage up to 12 guests in the waiting queue. Programming can be live or recorded for later use.

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

Airbridge+ provides operators scale and picture position controls of guests along with mix-minus and audio delay. There are also PTZ camera remote controls.

Would-be participants are sent an exclusive link for entering the system. MultiCam visual radio systems are compatible with audio consoles made by Axia, DHD, Lawo and Wheatstone and software automation from companies such as ENCO, RCS, WideOrbit and WinMedia. It works with video platforms and social media such as Dailymotion, Facebook Live Kaltura and YouTube.

Info: www.multicam-systems.com

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iHeartRadio is highlighting its participation in an Alexa offering that lets users automate certain common operations.

The media company is one of four initial launch partners for Alexa Routines, which bundles several things that an Alexa user wants to do regularly, and points to partner content.

[Read: Smart Speakers Continue Home Invasion]

iHeart wrote about it this way in an announcement: “Starting today, you can use the iHeartRadio Routine to kick off your morning with “Stuff You Should Know.” When you dismiss your alarm, Alexa will turn on your smart lights, start your compatible smart coffee maker (no worries if you don’t have one — the Routine will still work without them), and start to stream Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant’s “Stuff You Should Know” podcast.”

Routines can be turned into shareable URL links so users can share them.

An Amazon blog post explains this in more detail and notes other routines such as one for NPR; read it here.

 

The post iHeart, NPR Are Part of New Alexa Routines appeared first on Radio World.

Pilot, an initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters, will continue its Media Technology and Innovation Scholarships program by offering up to four scholarships of $2,500 each in 2021. Students eligible to apply include current college sophomores, juniors, seniors entering graduate school and graduate students, for pursuit of studies related to broadcast engineering, media technology and innovation. The scholarships will be administered in partnership with the Broadcast Education Association.

“Pilot continues to stress the importance of attracting and educating top technologists to the broadcast industry,” said Sam Matheny, NAB’s executive vice president and chief technology officer. “These scholarships expand awareness of broadcast technology in the academic world, and can assist those students with interest in the technical elements of media to pursue their goals.”

BEA Executive Director Heather Birks added, “On behalf of BEA’s board of directors and membership, we are grateful for Pilot’s continued support. With the constantly changing environment, it’s more important than ever to assist students interested in media technology and innovation. We appreciate Pilot’s ongoing dedication to this crucial sector of academia.”

Inaugurated in 2018, the scholarship program targets academic areas that include broadcast television or radio engineering and technology as well as broadcast content creation, including sports and news production, web and online media, mobile media, media-related information technology, multiplatform audience measurement and media technology research.

The deadline for application is October 15, and scholarship winners will be announced in February 2021. Click here for further information and to apply.

The post Pilot Offers Media Technology and Innovation Scholarships appeared first on Radio World.

Getty Images PashaIgnatov

The list of rules affecting U.S. radio stations that have been eliminated or modified under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has gotten quite long.

Pai released an update to his rolling list of commission accomplishments since he took the chair in 2017. His latest summary is posted here.

He updates this list periodically, and it covers many industry sectors. Certainly it is not an impartial report card; and certainly some of the accomplishments are the result of work that started before Pai took the chair.

But a perusal of the 14-page document with an eye on radio interests offers a reminder of just how many processes touching broadcasters have been killed or revised under Pai, who considers such elimination and streamlining to be a major part of his mission.

His tally now includes the elimination of rules about: paper filing of contracts, keeping paper copies of FCC rules, public inspection of paper files, license display, EOO mid-term reports, radio duplication, common antenna siting, broadcast application public notices, and the biggie for station owners, the requirement to maintain a main studio in a station’s city of license.

Also making Pai’s list are updates or streamlining to FM translator interference processes, low-power FM technical rules, NCE FM comparative selection procedures, and third-party fundraising for non-profit broadcasters.

And he lists actions involving pirate radio, EAS improvements and the creation of Blue Alerts.

Pai is a Republican who was appointed by President Obama and designated chairman by President Trump.

He updated his list in connection with Thursday testimony to an FCC oversight hearing of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

He doesn’t mention radio in the prepared testimony but, speaking more broadly, he highlighted commission efforts on “prioritizing bridging the digital divide, promoting innovation and investment, protecting consumers and enforcing the law, eliminating and modernizing outdated regulations, enhancing public safety, and addressing transparency and process reforms.”

He said that at 44 open meetings, the FCC has voted and adopted 260 items, “more than double the previous administration over the same time period.”

And he mentions the C Band migration, saying the FCC is “on track to commence an auction of 280 megahertz of mid-band spectrum from 3.7–3.98 GHz beginning Dec.8. Our efforts to make this critical spectrum available for 5G have been going very well. … Getting this essential spectrum out years ahead of schedule will promote American leadership in 5G, faster and more reliable wireless broadband connectivity for consumers, and the creation of millions of jobs, billions of dollars in investment, and stronger economic growth.”

The post Pai’s List of Radio Rule Changes Has Grown Long appeared first on Radio World.

The author of this commentary is a consultant and co-chair of the Audio Engineering Society’s Technical Committee for Broadcast and Online Delivery.

Many broadcasters want to deliver their content by stream as well as by traditional terrestrial broadcast. They care very much how the over-the-air sounds and want to deliver the best product. Over the stream — not so much.

Streaming has different parameters than over-the-air.

Can streaming sound good? Yes.

Can it sound great? If you want it to.

Should it sound the same as your air product? No!

[Read: Come on, Stream Providers, Do the Right Thing!]

Streaming is a different delivery medium with different requirements and results. While most radio broadcasters will maximize their efforts to sound good in the car for the coveted drive time ratings, streaming is the inverse. Listenership on streams tend to be during the times when people are at work. They may be listening on their smart speakers, computer or even their phone.

A broadcaster that is streaming should think about the audio processing. This should be different from broadcast and maximized for your streaming audience. A good CDN should be able to tell you what type of devices are listening to the stream. Yes, you can find out if your audience favors iPhone over Android, Google over Amazon. Try to sound appealing for that audience.

Cue points are very important. Listeners get annoyed when the “Now Playing” information is wrong, locked, or delayed. If you are covering ads whether for the whole audience or delivering Direct Ad Insertion, these cue points will tell the ads to play. Tune your cue point delay correctly so you do not hear what it is covering without cutting off the talent. Educate the talent about this. Can this be done? Absolutely! Is it being done? No!

I have been told by station management that stream quality doesn’t matter. I have been told that the streaming audience is too small! I have been told that over the air is what matters now.

My answer to all of these statements is that the stream matters. Yes, it is the conveyance for the future, but to quote others — the future is now! Make the investment. Large radio companies have created aggregators allowing their competitors to stream alongside of their stations. Are they doing this altruistically? No! They are inserting their own ads and promoting their streams, podcasts or websites. Wake up, radio!

Streaming should be a way of delivery and be the best presentation of the content. Streaming is not an “also ran” and anyone that refers to it that way is not respecting the content.

I apologize for the harshness of this, but it is past due.

The post Audio Streaming Quality Matters appeared first on Radio World.

Gary Mach, right, is shown at a past Broadcasters Clinic presenting Leonard Charles with a chocolate Cow Pie, a joking reference to Leonard’s presentation about working on AM directional arrays in the field.

Gary Mach has died. The longtime broadcast engineer was 78, according to an obituary in the newsletter of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.

Mach worked for many years on the WBA’s Broadcasters Clinic Committee. Last year’s clinic was dedicated to him.

“During his career, Mach worked every level of support from staff engineer to corporate engineer,” WBA wrote.

“He successfully completed several facilities upgrades during his career, in additional to countless engineering accomplishments, like rebuilding transmitters and studio systems.”

His career included working with Wisconsin Public Broadcasting and PBS. He designed the telecommunications facilities for the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts and the Center for Television Production, both on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus.

“Mach shared his skills and talents with the technical college system, the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, Cellcom Communications, and many others. He continued consulting long after his retirement,” WBA stated.

He died in Green Bay, Wis. Here’s a link to a tribute page.

The post Wisconsin Broadcasters Remember Gary Mach, Engineer appeared first on Radio World.

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Radiodays Europe had already postponed its 2020 event once, in hopes it could still do an in-person event this December. Now the organization has acknowledged that it cannot, and it has rescheduled to May of next year.

If the new schedule holds, its physical event will be held at CCL in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 2–4. Radiodays Europe is 10 years old and most recently drew about 1,500 people from 62 countries.

Whether large events can be held even in May seems uncertain; notably, the National Association of Broadcasters just recently decided it won’t be able to hold a physical event in April in Las Vegas, and pushed its spring show back.

The Radiodays postponement was announced by General Manager Peter Niegel. “It has been a very difficult decision to make, as back in March when we postponed the event for the first time we were anticipating it would be possible to hold an in person event in December,” he was quoted in the announcement.

“However, what we are continuing to see is that the situation country by country and within the radio and podcast communities is that quarantines, restrictions on travel and the continued spread of the virus mean an event in December is not in the interests of our participants, speakers, partners and hosts.”

Tickets to the 2020 event will be honored at the event in May. Radiodays Europe will also run a virtual “Christmas Lunch” on Monday Dec. 14.

 

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Churches in the United States should not look to the Federal Communications Commission to ease power restrictions on unlicensed radio signals that many churches now use to reach congregations.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has replied to a letter from Rep. Mark Green. The congressman from Tennessee sought pandemic waivers for houses of worship to transmit signals exceeding power levels allowed under Part 15 of the rules.

As Radio World has reported, COVID-19 has caused a great spike in interest by churches and other organizations to use FM and AM radio to reach people who wish to gather and yet stay physically spread out.

Because broadcast licenses are so hard to come by, unlicensed Part 15 systems naturally have attraction; but their effective coverage is limited. And providers of such systems, as well as licensed broadcasters, have expressed concern that new users don’t understand or choose to follow the relevant rules.

[Read RW’s recent coverage of Part 15 broadcasting and related opinions.]

Green in June asked for a temporary waiver allowing FM transmitters to operate with an effective range greater than 200 feet. He noted that churches were looking for innovative ways to gather and should be “be able to operate without the fear of heavy penalties threatening their services.”

Green — like Pai a Republican who speaks about the need for less regulation — wrote, “The coronavirus pandemic has forced houses of worship to find alternative ways to exercise [their] freedoms. The least the Federal government can do is to get out of their way, so they can serve their communities without fear of violating a government rule.”

But Pai said no. He wrote to Green, “These devices can be useful in providing a way for churches to continue to connect with congregations during this period of social distancing. However, one of the fundamental responsibilities that Congress placed on the commission under the Communications Act of 1934 is the protection of licensed stations. To this end, the commission long ago established carefully calibrated rules regarding the specifications under which licensed and unlicensed FM stations may operate.”

The chairman said that when granting applications for new FM stations or modifications of existing ones, FCC rules require that applicants demonstrate that they would not cause harmful interference, and applications must be supported with detailed engineering information.

“Additionally, our rules provide for public notice of these applications, and afford potentially impacted stations the opportunity to object to these applications if they believe that they will receive interference.”

Because of these requirements, Pai continued, Part 15 devices must stay within strict confines of FCC rules in order to protect licensed stations from harmful interference.

“A waiver of these requirements would undermine the commission’s goal of ensuring the integrity of already ­crowded FM radio spectrum, and would deny existing licensees the opportunities to defend their costly investments.”

Pai told Green that he is “proud of the work that licensed broadcasters have done during the pandemic. They have been providing vital information to listeners, while facing an unprecedented challenge from loss of advertising revenue. Moreover, as the recent tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic have demonstrated, licensed broadcasters provide up-to-the-minute information on natural disasters and are required to participate in the Emergency Alert System.”

These services and others, Pai wrote, could be hurt by waivers to allow churches to operate Part 15 devices above current power limits.

“I understand that this makes it more challenging for churches during this difficult time, but I want to emphasize that there are options available,” Pai continued.

“Churches can contact local broadcast stations to see if any would be willing to air their weekly services. Indeed, many local stations partnered with house of worship to broadcast Easter services. Churches also could explore using multiple Part 15 devices to cover a larger area if they continue to provide ‘drive-in’ style services.

“Or churches could look into ‘call-to-listen’ services where congregants would only need a phone to hear the service. Finally, if congregants have access to broadband at home, there are multiple, free streaming services that could be used (and have been used across the country).”

 

 

The post FCC Won’t Raise Unlicensed Power Levels for Churches appeared first on Radio World.

President Trump has announced his intention to nominate Nathan Simington to fill the seat being vacated by Michael O’Rielly, whose renomination was withdrawn by the president apparently because O’Rielly was critical of the president’s effort to regulate social media.

Simington is currently senior advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is the president’s chief communications advisory arm, where he worked on 5G security/supply chain issues.

He also reportedly worked on NTIA’s petition to the FCC to come up with the regime for regulating social media that the president had called for and that O’Rielly had criticized.

[Read: Trump Rescinds O’Rielly Nomination at FCC]

Simington is formerly senior counsel to wireless company Brightstar, where the White House points out he “negotiated deals with companies across the spectrum of the telecommunications and internet industry, including most of the world’s leading wireless carriers.”

Before that he was at powerhouse law firm Kirkland & Ellis as an associate in its corporate practice.

O’Rielly can continue to serve in his post either until Congress adjourns or Simington has had a nomination hearing in the Senate and is confirmed in that body, whichever comes first.

If O’Rielly left before his mandatory exit, it would leave the FCC at a 2–2 tie, which Republicans clearly don’t want. And even if he stayed through the end of December, the FCC could be at a 2–2 tie depending on how long it took to vet and vote a successor given the intervention of a presidential election and a lame-duck Congress with few legislative days.

O’Rielly has already been vetted and voted in the Commerce Committee and had only been awaiting a Senate vote when the president abruptly pulled the nomination, likely over an O’Rielly speech to the Media Institute in which he raised concerns about the negative consequences of regulating social media company content, something the president has pushed.

But there had also been a hold on O’Rielly’s nomination placed by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who was unhappy with an FCC decision to allow Ligado to use spectrum adjacent to GPS for terrestrial broadband. That was a unanimous decision, but O’Rielly’s is the only FCC nomination up for renewal and that hold was considered a signal to the whole FCC of Inhofe’s unhappiness rather than any desire to derail O’Rielly.

O’Rielly tweeted his support for his successor, saying: “I extend my sincere congrats to Mr. Simington for selection to join @FCC, and offer best wishes for a smooth confirmation process and successful term at the commission.”

 

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