Industry News

In August we told you about the notice of proposed rulemaking submitted by Sennheiser that asked the commission to formally define the Wireless Multi-Channel Audio System as a new class of wireless mics. The company also requested that WMAS be allowed to occupy up to a 6 MHz channel bandwidth.

The advantage, according to Sennheiser, is that by digitally combining signals from multiple devices into a 6 MHz channel, intermodulation issues would be eliminated while permitting denser use of the spectrum and reducing power density across the channel.

Sennheiser makes the case that spectrum demand has crunched wireless applications.

Shure has also been a supporter of the WMAS concept in general.

As we reported, the proposal had generated a flurry of comments from several parties, most generally in agreement with Sennheiser’s concept of WMAS but with varied suggestions on how it could be tweaked and improved.

Late this summer, followup comments were filed, with interested parties reacting to one another’s ideas.

Worried about interference

Lectrosonics expressed concerns that the proposed systems, by virtue of the wide bandwidths they occupy, will harm access to spectrum in situations where multiple operators must share a limited amount of spectrum.

It added its support to a key recommendation from the National Association of Broadcasters. Essentially, the NAB asked the commission to limit the use of WMAS to large events. Lectrosonics agreed with the NAB that the FCC should set a minimum threshold of 10 audio channels used by a single entity, and that the audio channels be under the control of a single entity, so that there would be a single point of contact for other wireless microphone operators.

[More: Wireless Mic Industry Debates WMAS Technology]

Lectrosonics agreed with Shure that the commission should permit Part 74 WMAS operations in the VHF-TV bands (54–72, 76–88 and 174–216 MHz), the UHF-TV band (470–608 MHz), the 653–657 MHz segment of the 600 MHz duplex gap, 941.5–944 MHz, 944–952 MHz, 952.850–956.250 MHz, 956.45–959.85 MHz, 1435–1525 MHz, 6875–6900 MHz and 7100–7125 MHz (“6–7 GHz”) bands as proposed in the NPRM.

However, Lectrosonics disagreed with Shure’s idea that the commission allow unlicensed WMAS operations and adopt technical rules for Part 15 WMAS technologies.

The operation of unlicensed wideband WMAS systems in situations where spectrum availability is limited, said Lectrosonics, incurs the risk of interference to licensed wireless microphone operations. They added that unlicensed users can continue to operate narrowband wireless microphones as in the past.

Another slide from Sennheiser on changes in available spectrum. The top bar is a color key to the rest of the graphic.

Lectrosonics favors a sliding scale for Part 74 WMAS power levels. While Shure proposed power spectral density (“PSD”) levels up to 750 mW per megahertz for Part 74 users based on the 250 mW limit for LPAS devices and a minimum spectral efficiency of 3 channels per megahertz, Lectrosonics says in its experience, a power level of 50 mW is typical. This, the company says, should be taken as the basis for sliding scale power spectral density limits.

The company also weighed in on whether the commission should reallocate the 6–7 GHz frequencies now designated for wireless microphones. It sided with Shure, saying in part, “this allocation has great promise for wireless microphone usage and that wireless microphone manufacturers, including Lectrosonics, are planning to develop systems that operate there.”

Finally, Lectrosonics added that the commission should require a minimum spectral efficiency of three audio channels per MHz for WMAS technology, and the maximum bandwidth should be limited to six MHz, but no minimum bandwidth requirements should be imposed.

Not just for large events

Waves Audio Ltd. agreed with the value of harmonizing WMAS regulations with European Telecommunications Standards Institute standards, but disagreed with the use of the ETSI emission mask. That, it said, would force manufactures to use cost-prohibitive measures in order to comply. Rather, the company suggested the commission adopt the emissions mask Waves proposed in its own initial comments.

Waves advocates for the commission to adopt a minimum efficiency level of three channels per MHz. It noted that the proposed six channels per MHz advocated by the NAB was not tenable, and agreed with Shure, which said three channels was optimal.

Waves and Shure disagree as to whether the commission should mandate a measurement of audio quality, with Waves arguing against. It said the state of the art in wireless microphones delivers “unheralded fidelity,” that codec audio quality is a major source of innovation and that any attempt to regulate sound quality could stifle this kind of creativity.

A Shure image highlights the concept of scalability.

Waves disagreed with the NAB’s recommendation to constrain WMAS usage to large events, citing a number of reasons and calling this an artificial cap. A 10-channel minimum usage requirement would, according to Waves, probably cause users to take up more channels than they need just so they can use WMAS. Alternately, they might purchase both a conventional wireless microphone system along with a WMAS system.

Further, Waves wondered how such a requirement would be enforced. And even if it could be, the company said limiting use to large events would deprive smaller and mid-scale users of the advantages of WMAS; that in turn would slow the adoption curve, which would cause manufactures to reduce their investments in the technology.

Waves said the commission should scale WMAS bandwidth based on the number of carriers transmitted, rather than the number of audio channels used.

In this regard, the company strongly disagrees with the approach recommended by Shure, where the spectral efficiency of WMAS systems would be no less than an average of three channels per MHz across all channels, such that when using less than three audio channels a system must operate under the definition of narrowband.

Waves took issue with the NAB stance opposing WMAS operations under Part 15 at lower power. The company said that permitting Part 15 users will lead to higher and quicker adoption of the emerging standard, resulting in higher efficiency use of spectral resources overall.

Appropriate guardrails

NCTA—The Internet & Television Association focused on the need for coexistence measures for any WMAS operations in the 6 GHz band. It said the FCC thus would acknowledge the needs of wireless microphone users while allowing existing BAS and unlicensed users in the 6 GHz band to thrive.

Specifically, NCTA asked that the commission cap the total power permitted in a single WMAS channel; require that WMAS channelization be harmonized with BAS and 802.11 Wi-Fi channelization to avoid WMAS channels overlapping more than one of the channels of these other services; allow WMAS channels of up to six MHz, but not more; permit only Part 74 licensed WMAS use in 6 GHz; and restrict use to large events that require the use of many audio channels at the same time.

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ViacomCBS sided with the NAB in asking the commission to place limits on the use of the technology, to ensure that it does not impede broadcasters from engaging in newsgathering and coverage of local events of interest to their communities. The company added, “The spectrum needed for local broadcasters to operate wireless microphones is already scarce, and overbroad authorization of WMAS may exacerbate this problem. Appropriate guardrails on WMAS operations are needed to avoid disruption to local news and event coverage.”

One of several examples that Shure provided to the FCC of an application for WMAS bidirectional mics.

Sennheiser stated its support for preservation of a vacant UHF TV channel for wireless microphone use in all market areas of the United States. It said that petitions for reconsideration filed by both Shure and Sennheiser have broad support, with 183 of the 184 parties submitting comments supporting adoption of a vacant low-band UHF TV channel for wireless mic operations.

Cisco Systems, Facebook, Qualcomm and Intel filed jointly. They focused their reply comments on proposals for the 6 GHz and 7 GHz bands.

They began by noting that they all produce unlicensed technology and thus are now stakeholders in the band. The four companies do not believe that proponents have established a case for WMAS in 6 and 7 GHz. Noting that Sennheiser had not sought rule changes to permit WMAS in these bands, they believe the record casts substantial doubt on the technical wisdom of doing so.

At the same time, they believe the record reveals minimal use of wireless microphones under LPAS rules. The consequence, Cisco and Facebook wrote, is that there is “negligible” harm in directing wireless microphone operations to the other bands that have proven to have strong utility for the wireless microphone user community.

Finally, they said that allowing a WMAS allocation to proceed at 6 and 7 GHz creates uncertainties for unlicensed deployments that could slow the pace of innovation and uptake of new RLAN technology.

Do no harm

Microsoft Corp. stated its opposition to WMAS operations in the 6875–6900 and 7100–7125 MHz bands, asking the FCC to remove “needless regulatory uncertainty” and avoid economic harm.

Microsoft sided with the NAB in opposing unlicensed WMAS operations, which Shure and Sennheiser support. At issue, according to Microsoft, is the use of unlicensed WMAS operations as an opportunity to circumvent the FCC’s current eligibility threshold for unlicensed users to obtain a Part 74 license.

Shure responded to comments about the company’s recommended WMAS power levels of 750 mW per megahertz PSD and unlicensed 150 mW per megahertz PSD.

It noted that these are based on equivalency to power levels permissible under existing narrowband rules, and said they have worked very well for years without raising reported instances of interference to co-channel or adjacent channel operation.

Shure also urged the FCC to align its WMAS regulations with the ETSI harmonized standard with respect to transmit mask requirements and intermodulation distortion limits.

The NAB’s own reply comments expanded on its concerns over spectral efficiency.

“While we continue to support the use of WMAS technology on a secondary basis subject to reasonable restrictions, we urge the commission to authorize WMAS only on terms that will actually help alleviate spectrum congestion rather than risk making it materially worse.”

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New cross-platform data sharing options are being released by Marketron, with connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot and Oracle’s NetSuite.

The company said this integration aims to simplify and automate sharing of data between Marketron’s traffic systems and those platforms. By streamlining data exchange, the connectors help reduce data silos, eliminate duplication and improve data accuracy, the company said.

The announcement was made by Greg Aimone, vice president of professional services and presales.

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Marketron plans to work with customers to customize existing connectors as needed and can build additional connectors on request.

Using the Salesforce Connector, Marketron said, customers can sync Salesforce customer relationship management tools with Marketron data to keep accounts, contacts, opportunities and custom objects up to date. The connector can pull order details and order projection data into Salesforce, allowing clients to take advantage of Salesforce’s dashboards and reporting capabilities for sales teams. Customers can also use Salesforce as a proposal system.

HubSpot Connector allows advertiser and order summary data to populate HubSpot from Marketron, enabling account syncing and giving clients the ability to view historical and projected sales activity. HubSpot can also be used as a proposal system by Marketron users.

Using NetSuite Connector, Marketron can connect to a NetSuite account and keep it up to date with Marketron transaction and accounts receivable data. Users can automate the flow of data into the NetSuite general ledger from Marketron’s platforms allowing for quicker invoicing.

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

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In early July, a special group of low-power television station permits were put up for sale by a Texas-based company that didn’t wish to build them by their rather unique deadline of 2023.

Several buyers stepped forward, and now one of them — a 50/50 partnership between Steven Rubin and Lauren Malek, has completed its deal.

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NEW YORK — There’s a new leader that will oversee the production and business affairs teams for Walt Disney Television’s expansive portfolio of content brands, including Hulu Originals, Onyx Collective, ABC Entertainment and Freeform, along with production companies ABC Signature and 20th Television.

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NEW YORK — From social justice initiatives that led General Motors to look within to best reflect the multicultural America of today to a rebuke of “total market” initiatives that swept across the U.S. advertising and marketing world a decade ago, the COVID-19 pandemic “reset everyone’s expectations,” American Urban Radio Networks CEO Chesley Maddox-Dorsey believes.

The comment was made at the start of a Forecast 2022 session. As the moderator of a roundtable discussion featuring General Motors Global Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl and dentsu Americas Chief Product Officer for Global Media Doug Ray, Maddox-Dorsey seamlessly directed a Forecast 2022 session devoted to a topic that had the capacity crowd seated, silent and listening intently to the conversation.

With Diversity, Equity and Inclusion fueling what Wahl and Ray had to say, Wahl noted that the pandemic – and events tied to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis – fueled a “new desire for engagement and connection.”

Wahl continued, “As companies, we saw a new thirst for connecting as a company. Companies had to show up, in a very different way. Meanwhile, “big tentpole events” including the Super Bowl and World Series have “plunged” in terms of their effectiveness, Wahl added.

This led Wahl and her team at GM to review all of its marketing efforts. “At GM we are meeting people on a totally different way, meeting people in all levels of the marketing ecosystem in a more personal way,” she said.

Meanwhile, chip shortages and supply chain issues wreaked havoc with the product Wahl and her team had been tasked to market in a new engaging way. As such, “there will be a crazy, wild year for the next two to three years for automotive,” she said.

Ray took a moment to illustrate the big challenge for Radio, which has traditionally been fueled by automotive advertising. While more category diversity is helping some companies, a reliance on auto dollars punished Audacy Inc. in the third quarter of 2021.
In Ray’s view, radio advertising dollars will grow by 2% in 2022. Here’s the rub: digital is expected to grow by another 11% in 2022 on top of a huge 2021. And, radio’s growth is driven by streaming and podcasting, Ray said.

Thus, Wahl concluded, connecting authentically with the consumer – something lost through total market planning that treated every impression and GRP as “equal” – is more important than ever.

Where is the revenue heading for terrestrial radio? That question was the first to be answered by a Forecast 2022 panel moderated by noted media ecologist Jack Myers, of Media Village.

Yes, there are 22 states that have executed and authorized sports betting, with New York ready to go in 2022, making the category “enormous” for Radio, said Katz Media Group CEO Mark Gray.

That said, retail and financial services, along with auto insurance, are categories that are growing at spot radio. Growth in CPG is also strong, in the 10%-15% range, Gray said.

The move to audio from television for CPG brands was particularly noteworthy for Gray and for Jen Soch, executive director of specialty channels for GroupM.

The comments came after Gray offered a review of how 2019 was compared to the prior year. In 2018 political dollars drove the radio industry revenues. A year later was “pretty good,” with respect to non-political growth trends.

Then, the pandemic came. “Radio probably got hit the hardest when the pandemic hit, and radio got hit hard, and fast,” he said. But, radio has been chipping back every quarter, Gray said.

The return to 2019 levels has been slower for radio than for television because of what Gray sees as a perception problem. Usage was down, marketers believed, as quarantines and work-from-home patterns persisted. The result: television viewing went up, and advertisers responded.

Now that audio usage is increasing, Gray believes 2021 will end up “somewhere around -11% and -12%” compared to 2019 spot levels.

How soon can we get back to 2019 in 2022? “Radio is not done coming back – and probably can be up 5%-6% ex political in 2022,” Gray said.

Every year political is growing, and Soch is predicting “a bigger year than anyone has ever seen before,” with $8 billion-$10 billion expected in 2022, bigger than the $7 million seen in 2018.

A recent issue of Crawford Broadcasting’s engineering newsletter “The Local Oscillator” touched on the subject of budget season.

Crawford Director of Engineering Cris Alexander, who also is the technical editor of Radio World Engineering Extra, urged his chief engineers to focus on infrastructure as they prepared their ’22 capital budgets.

Fig.1: This door at a transmitter site is made of steel, but the interior wooden frame is wood. It rotted from years of exposure to rain and wind.

CBC’s chief in Alabama is Stephen Poole, CBRE, AMD. He writes that seasons of heavy wind and rain have taken their toll at several of his sites.

For instance, at one transmitter building, Stephen noticed that the steel door had a loose hinge. Closer inspection showed that the heavy door had a wooden frame, and exposure to the elements had caused the wood to rot and pull away from one of the hinges.

So much for site security! But this is why we always look around with a fresh eye whenever we visit a site.

Stephen isn’t looking forward to the replacement project, because that door and steel frame were sold as a complete unit, and the frame is embedded in the concrete of the building. I’m not aware of a quick fix for his problem; ideas welcome!

However, when you are dealing with loose hinges on a wooden frame, here’s a tip that I picked up from a handyman years ago:

Fig. 2 (left): Toothpicks help build up loose screw holes in a wooden frame. Fig. 3: Place them deep into the screw hole as shown, then trim off the ends and reinsert the screw.

If a wooden door is sagging, it may be that constant use of the hinges has worn away the frame so there’s nothing for the screw that holds the hinge to “bite into.”

If the hinge screws just spin around when you try to tighten them, here’s a technique that may help. Remove the hinge screws one at a time and stuff several toothpicks into the worn-out holes. Shove the toothpicks in as far as they will go, then break off or cut the protruding excess so they are flush with the door or frame. Reinstall the screw. You should notice a markedly tighter fit as the screw bites through and compresses the toothpicks.

This is not a permanent fix but it should secure the door until you can schedule installation of a replacement door.

By the way, if the frame is rotted, try adding wood glue with those toothpicks.

When winter weather approaching, these tips may buy you a little time.

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Seal those crevices
In the same issue of the CBC newsletter, Mike Kernen, the chief of Crawford’s Detroit cluster, wrote about dealing with transmitter site pests.

Now is a good time to investigate any infestation, starting with wasps. Liberally spray wasp repellent around overhangs and vents. If you can arrange an overnight session, place one of those super-bright LED cordless flashlight inside your ATU or other outside enclosure (with the power off, of course!), and in the dark, look for any escaping light as you walk around the structure.

Mice and insects can squeeze into amazingly small holes and crevices. Seal any visible holes. Remember that for larger entry points, stainless steel or copper wool combined with a caulk-type sealing compound works best. Shop for stainless steel or copper wool in the kitchen supply department of a grocery, hardware or dollar store. (Regular steel wool will rust, causing its own set of problems.)

Do like Mike and include an electrical inspection of wiring to your towers. Combine this check with your quarterly tower inspection — whipping winds can loosen or break straps or black ties securing conduit.

The weather took a toll on one of Mike’s Austin Ring transformers that used to couple tower light AC voltage across the base of the tower. The primary winding needed to be rewrapped.

Again, with the power off, clean and dry the surface of the winding. Then brush Glyptal Red Insulating Paint on the transformer, followed by strips of gauze; allow them to dry, and then repaint. The Glyptal has a high electrical insulating characteristic. The idea is that the Glyptal and gauze form a smooth coating around the transformer core.

Glyptal is not cheap; a quart costs more than $60 on Amazon. But the compound effectively seals and insulates the Austin Ring windings.

Repairing and resealing is far more affordable than having to replace Austin Ring transformers.

Visit www.glyptal.com to read about its line of insulating and varnishing products. (Bonus tip: Put a dab of this paint on a nut you need to keep tight or on the edge of a potentiometer that shouldn’t be touched after calibration. It’s just a little extra peace of mind.)

Who knows where you are?
Advice that goes without saying sometimes needs to be said anyway.

Contract Engineer Allen Branch wraps up our inspection column by reminding us that whenever we’re headed to do work alone at a remote site, we should let someone know where we’re going and when we are planning to be back.

Also bring bottled water and a couple of protein bars in case the weather or a vehicle problem strands you. A roll of paper towels and a blanket in the trunk can come in handy. We have written before about other helpful supplies to keep at your remote site and in your car or pickup.

PS: Recently, one of Allen’s engineers went to a site and found several spent .22 caliber shell casings on the ground by the entry gate. There was no apparent damage, but let’s be careful out there.

John Bisset, CPBE, is in his 31st year of Workbench and has spent more than 50 years in broadcasting. 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 help your colleagues and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com.

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“You and who you are make the difference when you speak.”

That’s one of the key takeaways from this latest column from “Zoom expert” Rosemary Ravinal, a Miami-based public relations veteran. As she notes, “Your pitch, rate of speech, volume, inflection, articulation, overall vocal variety, and accent are part of the individual tendencies that comprise your natural style.”

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NEW YORK — For the first time in its 18-year history, Forecast 2022 offered attendees an exclusive series of conversations, candid discussions and in-the-room only talk that encompassed both the radio and television industries. And, welcoming broadcast TV leaders to Forecast was welcomed across the board — in particular by Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell, who moderated an event-closing “Super Session” with a capacity, standing room only crowd in attendance.

“I’m really happy and pleased to see radio and TV come together for the first time,” Borrell said at the start of the highly anticipated session.

Borrell asked several questions, starting with 2022 revenue projections and any trends that are unfolding for the next year. Answering the question first: Bill Wilson, CEO of Townsquare Media, which has become a digital-first company revenue-wise thanks to its Townsquare Ignite and Townsquare Interactive operations. Getting back to 2019 levels is there, and peers are on their way. He expects strong mid-single-digit growth off of 2019 next year, in particular for radio revenue at Townsquare.

For The E.W. Scripps Co.’s President of Local Media Brian Lawlor, “we had a big year this year,” adding that the broadcast TV stations it owns saw core categories “bounce back really strong.” Reiterating comments made on the company’s Q3 earnings call, 12 of the top 13 ad categories were all up year-over-year. The one that was down? To no surprise, it is Automotive, “for all of the reasons we know.”

The conversation then weaved back to radio — and eSports, as Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley thanked Streamline Publishing President/Publisher Deborah Parenti for holding Forecast 2022 in person. Addressing Parenti, Caroline Beasley said, “It really shows your courage and your insightfulness,” leading the crowd to applaud.

Caroline Beasley then picked up where Lawlor and Wilson had said regarding 2022 trends, noting that Beasley Media Group is in larger markets than Townsquare and, as such, local and national spot aren’t anticipated to be higher in 2022 versus 2019 just yet. That said, overall revenue will exceed 2019 revenues at the company.

Rounding out the panel is Forecast 2022 co-chair Deborah OConnell, President of Networks for Disney Media & Entertainment; Wilson also co-chaired the event this year. OConnell congratulated Parenti on a great day of sessions before sharing comments that largely mirrored that of Lawlor. “We’ve already come back when you think about local broadcasting and television,” she said. “TV had a quicker turn than radio in coming back from the pandemic and look to 2022 as being a really strong year.”

With 2019 a benchmark for broadcast media, Lawlor agreed with Wilson in noting that, if one thing changed during the pandemic that could be viewed as a positive, “We got off our reliance of our regular business. Automotive? We lived off Automotive being 25% to 30% of our business for decades and all of a sudden Automotive is gone. Our biggest core businesses were gone. You had to reimagine everything and, for our 800 sellers, it meant doubling down our business on local and on developmental opportunities. That absolutely changed our trajectory.”

Additionally, “a record” level of business development and new dollars have come as sellers have been told not to come to work and not to see clients, as the COVID-19 pandemic shifted work to the home and to virtual audio and/or video conversations.

In OConnell’s view, the biggest change from the pandemic was ABC Owned Stations’ audience growth, with consumers “realizing how important local media was, and how we were the only connection point for some people during lockdown to anyone outside of their daily lives or for those who are by themselves. Our audience changed, which makes advertisers understand the importance of local much more today than they did in 2019. It is hard to speak with a client who doesn’t understand the power of local [television] today.

 

Audacy named Jeff Gonsales as senior vice president and market manager of its Minneapolis market.

“In this role, Gonsales will oversee the market’s portfolio of stations, which includes 830 WCCO (WCCO-AM), 104.1 JACK FM (KZJK-FM) and 102.9 The Wolf (KMNB-FM), effective Dec. 6,” the company announced. He succeeds Shannon Knoepke.

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Gonsales started his radio career at WCCO as a merchandising account executive.

Regional President Rachel Williamson cited his experience in the Twin Cities and reputation for integrity. Gonsales has been with Hubbard Radio in St. Paul for most of the past two decades, including 10 years as director of sales.

He also is a former regional director of business development for what was then Clear Channel Radio.

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