Industry News

The broadcast media inventory and revenue workflow management company known as WideOrbit has just released a “Total Radio Solution” it believes can bring radio station groups improved efficiencies, cost reductions and, ultimately, higher revenue across the entire ecosystem.

Those are the promises of the new product, launched October 5 by the San Francisco-based tech company.

“As listening patterns continue to shift, today’s radio broadcasters require tools to both streamline traditional AM/FM operations as well as generate additional revenue,” WideOrbit says. “Radio station automation, remote access, and digital delivery and monetization are no longer just nice-to-haves; they’re critical for stations to succeed in an increasingly competitive industry.”

So, what exactly does WideOrbit’s Total Radio Solution offer? The company’s marketing literature highlights “streamlining workflows across the radio ecosystem; increased opportunities for revenue generation through digital audio (streaming and podcasting); improved advertising customer satisfaction and retention through simplified cross-channel transactions, from order to invoice to cash; and simplified access to in-depth performance insights to make smarter, data-driven decisions.”

To be more precise, WideOrbit’s Total Radio Solution incorporates digital management and monetization, business intelligence, and A/R automation and payment tools, in addition to  integration with a variety of third-party systems.

“The products that make up our Total Radio Solution were specifically designed to build upon and enhance each other,” said WideOrbit VP of Radio Sales Danny Tankersley. “Radio organizations of all sizes, from independent local stations to mid-sized regional station groups, to national radio brands, will benefit from our end-to-end solution’s ability to help deliver compelling programming to engage listeners, all while improving efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing revenue.”

WideOrbit Founder and CEO Eric R. Mathewson added, “WideOrbit has a longstanding commitment to continuous innovation and investment in improving our core products. We’re proud to continue that tradition with the launch of our Total Radio Solution, bringing radio workflows together in a single, unified platform to help our customers maximize revenue.”

WideOrbit is offering a family of software products under the umbrella of the Total Radio Solution.

“A suite of end-to-end radio solutions that can both stand alone and work together, WideOrbit’s Total Radio Solution helps station groups of all sizes improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase revenue across the entire radio ecosystem, from the studio to the C-suite,” the company stated.

WideOrbit makes inventory and revenue workflow management products. It said the components of this new suite allow stations to streamline their workflows, increase opportunities for revenue in streaming and podcasting; simplify cross-channel transactions; and make it easier to access performance data.

The company positions the suite as useful to stations and groups of all sizes.

“Starting from the solid foundation of WideOrbit’s core radio solutions, WO Automation for Radio and WO Traffic for Radio, stations can build out a complete solution as their business grows. WideOrbit’s Total Radio Solution incorporates digital management and monetization, business intelligence and A/R automation and payment tools, in addition to seamless integration with a wide variety of third-party systems.”

The company recently held a webinar on this product.

The post WideOrbit Offers “Total Radio Solution” Suite appeared first on Radio World.

The MusicFirst Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition want the Federal Communications Commission to retain its local radio station ownership caps and subcaps, at least for FM stations.

“These rules remain necessary to promote diversity, competition and localism in communities throughout the country,” they told the commission.

They noted that a proposal from the National Association of Broadcasters would allow common ownership of up to eight commercial FM stations in the 75 largest U.S. markets.

Commenting in the FCC’s long-drawn-out 2018 quadrennial review process, the two groups, which advocate for music creators, wrote: “What we have observed at commercial FM radio in recent years confirms our long-held conviction that prior to rulemaking, the FCC should commission its own analysis — beyond just macroeconomics — incorporating cultural, artistic, labor and other public interest concerns. Such analysis must authentically center on core policy principles of diversity, competition and localism.”

The groups say that the proposal from the NAB to ease some local caps and eliminate others “raises the frightening possibility that a single company might be allowed to own every commercial radio station in many geographic markets, accelerating many of the harms already described by civil rights groups, unions and media reformers.

“Having failed to establish consensus for their proposal even among struggling commercial FM station owners,” the coalitions continued, “they now desperately point solely to marketplace challenges facing the radio industry as justification for further drastic ownership deregulation while dodging accountability for their own anti-competitive actions and the impacts of their preferred deregulatory policies.”

Further ownership consolidation, they said, “is not the answer to terrestrial radio’s competition woes.” They dismissed NAB’s argument that caps are limiting ownership unduly. “In fact, the few AM/FM owners who are currently hitting the LRSO Caps appear to be bouncing back nicely. Permanent ownership deregulation is not the right remedy.”

[Related: “NAB Lays Out Precarious Financial Position of Radio”]

They want to FCC to “chart a different course … rather than assenting to calls to further weaken important public interest protections on the flimsiest of justifications.” It wants the commission to define markets differently, study the impact of past policy decisions on racial equity, and collect better data about what is happening in the marketplace “with respect to listeners, broadcast owners and content creators.”

So they asked the FCC to retain current maximums on the number of FM stations that an entity can own in a market, as well as the AM/FM subcap. They didn’t take a position on whether it should ease the number of AM stations that one entity can own in a market.

“We also call upon the commission to conduct its own meaningful studies about the effects of deregulation of commercial FM ownership on diversity, localism and both intramodal and intermodal competition for use in its upcoming 2022 Quadrennial Review. Such studies should include analysis of effects on the public interest of the elimination of the Main Studio Rule, with an eye toward determining whether the Main Studio Rule should be reinstated in the public interest.”

Founding members of MusicFirst include the Recording Industry Association of America and SoundExchange, among other advocacy groups. FMC is a nonprofit that advocates for artist compensation.

Read the filing (PDF).

The post MusicFirst, FMC See “Inequities” in AM/FM Policy appeared first on Radio World.

ST Engineering iDirect’s broadcast technology has been selected by USSI Global, the provider of customized network, broadcast and digital signage systems and services worldwide, to enable the modernization and compression of satellite programmers’ distribution uplinks to comply with the FCC’s C-band spectrum transition.

ST Engineering iDirect is a key technology partner in the upgrade and will be providing broadcast equipment including M1600 modulators, USS02012 redundancy switches and FR0730 up and down converters, enabling USSI Global to ensure a smooth transition and high-efficiency, future-proof infrastructure.

The modernized compression systems will serve extensive sports distribution encompassing MLB, NHL and NBA teams, as well as several major programmer distribution systems in the USA.

The upgrade is expected to be completed by August 2023.

The upgrade work is part of the FCC’s initiative to clear 300MHz of the C-band’s 500MHz bandwidth frequency for 5G mobile services and relocate service providers within that spectrum to the remaining 200MHz. As the C-band spectrum is mostly used for TV and radio operations, many providers will vacate the 300MHz targeted for 5G services. These transitions will require affected providers to navigate complex technical changes including installation of new and existing antennas and the repointing and filtering required for the antenna upgrades.

— Brian Galante

On October 15, three FEMA representatives will be on hand to help commemorate the launch of “an all-hazards upgrade” to what is considered to be a “Primary Entry Point” facility at the heritage home for News and Talk in New England — iHeartMedia-owned WBZ-AM 1030 in Boston.

FEMA and iHeartMedia Boston are teaming for the event, scheduled for 11am on that Friday in mid-October. It will be held at the WBZ transmitter and “PEP” site, in Hull, Mass.

According to iHeartMedia, the modernization to the emergency studio increases WBZ Radio’s resiliency to continue broadcasting under all conditions, including natural disasters and acts of terrorism.

The facility is one of 77 across the country that serve as a National Public Warning System Primary Entry Point (PEP) station, participating with FEMA to provide emergency alert and warning information to the public before, during and after incidents and disasters.

This makes WBZ Radio the 13th station in the nation to work with FEMA to complete the all-hazards upgrade, which includes increased sheltering capabilities, expanded broadcast capacity, and sustainable power generation for all types of hazardous events.

A ribbon cutting, official remarks, a Q&A session for local media, a tour of the facility, and a live demonstration at the WBZ PEP station emergency studio are scheduled.

Speakers include Antwane Johnson, Director of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System; FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Nick Russo; IPAWS Program Manager Manny Centeno; iHeartMedia EVP of Engineering & Systems Integration Jeff Littlejohn; and iHeartMedia Boston Market President Alan Chartrand.

Politicians set to appear include Sen. Ed Markey, State Senator Patrick O’Connor, State Representative Joan Meschino, and Hull Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Jennifer Constable.

WBZ on-air host Dan Rea will also be in attendance.

This month Andrea Cummis will be sworn in as president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. She will be the first woman to hold that office.

Cummis, CBT, CTO, has been chief technical officer of PBS39 WLVT(TV), in Bethlehem, Pa., since 2017, and she is a member of SBE Chapter 15 in New York City. Her responsibilities include technical oversight at NPR affiliate WLVR(FM).

She was unopposed in the SBE election and will take office on Oct. 18, succeeding Wayne Pecena, who served two terms and remains on the board as immediate past president.

Cummis has a breadth of expertise, holding degrees in electrical engineering and in law and technology, as well as an MBA. She has worked for more than two decades in engineering, operations and new technology in television, radio and new media.

She and her husband Renard Fiscus also own AC Video Solutions, a systems design and integration firm. Its customers include Christian Faith Network, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, All Mobile Video, M&T Bank, and Raritan Valley Community College.

Cummis spoke with Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane.

Radio World: You’ve done quite a bit of systems integration and design, as I understand it.

Andrea Cummis: Lots and lots. Many, many years.

RW: How did you get into broadcast engineering in the first place?

Cummis: Oh, it’s a funny story. I was in my eighth-grade history class and we were doing projects; you got up and showed your project.

Someone dropped off a cart of equipment — a camera and an old black-and-white reel-to-reel deck — but none of it was put together, it was all just on a cart in a box. I thought it was really interesting. I went over and put it together and started recording the projects.

I went over to the librarian and said, “Do you need help with this?” And I became the AV person for the junior high.

I would record all the school plays and do the audio recordings for concerts.

When I was ready to go to high school, the librarian called them and said, “Don’t mess around, just let her do video stuff when she gets there, don’t make her wait.” So I started running a four-camera video studio as soon as I got to high school. I was TD’ing and directing four-camera shoots for the school plays and running monitors backstage. I just figured it all out.

RW: A lot of people in our business would know what that high school AV closet looks like! Yet in 2021 there are still very few women in the field. Why do you think that is?

Cummis: It’s really hard, and pretty physical, and you don’t get paid that much.

If you’re studying engineering in college, why wouldn’t you do chemical engineering or IT, where you don’t have to be on your feet all day and work crazy hours and be on call weekends and nights and probably get paid a lot more?

I think we as engineers are very undervalued in how hard we work and how much knowledge we need, how we have to work under pressure and respond really quickly.

It’s a very unusual job. I wish I knew why more women didn’t do it. I don’t think they have the opportunity. Maybe a lot of people don’t know that this job exists, they were never exposed to it.

RW: As you come in as SBE president, what are your priorities?

Cummis: Well, for me as the first woman president of SBE, I would like to figure out how to diversify and get more women, more minorities, different ages, and people who aren’t necessarily “straight engineering” but have other technical jobs in broadcasting. I think it’s been our goal as a society for a long time, but it feels really important right now.

Andrea Cummis at work for “The Today Show” in China in 1987.

RW: Certainly there’s been no lack of good intentions on the part of the society over the years, but these also are issues in our broader culture. Those are not small obstacles.

Cummis: No, absolutely.

One of our goals is to have a strategic planning process that will open things. In the past, we’ve flown people into one place, trapped them in a room and talked all day. But with all the virtual meetings we have nowadays, it’s a great opportunity to be able to invite more people and do sessions in different jobs and locations — really open it up so that we can get a better understanding of what people need, what they think we could do to be better and attract other kinds of people.

RW: You certainly are coming into this position at an interesting time nationally, given the pandemic and the effect it’s had on events, meetings and working remotely.

Cummis: We’ve done really well at SBE with having virtual meetings, it’s been very successful for us.

For me, the interesting thing being in charge of a facility is having to deal with all the COVID stuff and keeping your facility safe and your people safe. A lot of chief engineers and other members have been thrown into being COVID experts and having to figure this out.

Are your people working remotely successfully? Are you increasing your cleaning?

For example I found these really cool wraps that you put around handles that are supposed to keep everything clean magically. I don’t know how they work but it’s amazing technology. I even had to take COVID certifications including a session with a doctor, a nurse and a lawyer; you had to pass a test.

There’s so much to know and it changes so fast. It really has changed what our job is in ways you never could have predicted.

RW: We often hear of the traditional divide between IT and broadcast engineering. Many of those skillsets and interest areas now overlap. Is the divide getting any closer?

Cummis: In some cases it’s totally merged and there is really no divide; and in other places that are union shops, they can’t get together because they’re not allowed to. That’s where it gets messy, because the broadcast engineers have a specific domain, the IT guys are on the other side, and there are times they have to work together. But then there’s times where you get finger-pointing: Who’s in charge of this or that, and who’s assigning IP addresses or anything else that crosses over.

I think you’re always going to have two paths.

RW: As you look across media technology, are there particular areas where you think SBE members ought to be paying closer attention for their careers?

Cummis: Well, the ATSC 3.0 stuff is coming up really fast. A lot of places are already starting to implement it. There’s so much to know and it’s so complicated, so many ways to use it. Each organization is going to have to figure out why they’re doing it and what they’re hoping to get out of it.

Then having to keep the ATSC 1 going while you’re doing ATSC 3. It’s years and years that you have to overlap, and nobody’s helping you pay for it. How do you do it? How do you “lighthouse”? Are you doing it with somebody else or can you do it with just what you own?

Just taking a webinar is not going to be enough for anyone. There’s an awful lot to know, and it’s going to keep changing. It will be probably be a few years of people watching to see how’s somebody else rolling it out, and was it successful? How long did it take? What did it cost?

We’re looking at it here at WLVT, but we’re part of a big channel share. It’s going to be hard to do that with nine channels on our one piece of bandwidth now; how would you ever lighthouse that?

RW: You mentioned webinars. SBE has done a great job of putting together comprehensive training materials on many radio and TV technical topics. Are there other issues that you want to mention?

Cummis: I think overall we’ve made some really good decisions in the past few years. Our new membership enhancement, SBE MemberPlus, which includes all the webinars, has been really successful. All our education certification, all our big initiatives like the Technical Professional Training Program have been terrific and are continuing — we just started ATSC 3.0 certification, something I should probably take at some point!

There are a lot of things we do really well. I hope to continue those and grow in other places.

[Related: Read our 2014 interview with Wayne Pecena on the occasion of his receiving the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award.]

SBE Presidents List

Andrea Cummis 2021–

Wayne Pecena 2019–2021

Jim Leifer 2017–2019

Jerry Massey 2015–2017

Joe Snelson 2013–2015

Ralph Hogan 2011–2013

Vincent Lopez 2009–2011

Barry Thomas 2007–2009

Christopher H. Scherer 2005–2007

Raymond C. Benedict 2003–2005

Troy D. Pennington 2001–2003

James “Andy” Butler 1999–2001

Edward J. Miller 1997–1999

Terrence M. Baun 1995–1997

Charles W. Kelly Jr. 1993–1995

Richard Farquhar 1991–1993

Bradley Dick 1989–1991

Jack McKain 1987–1989

Richard Rudman 1985–1987

Roger Johnson 1984–1985

Doyle Thompson, Sr. 1983–1984

Ron Arendall 1981–1983

Robert Jones 1979–1981

James Hurley 1978–1979

Robert Wehrman   1977–1978

Glen Lahman   1975–1977

James Wulliman 1973–1975

Robert Flanders 1971–1973

Lewis Wetzel 1970–1971

Al Chismark   1968–1970

Charles Hallinan 1966–1968

John Battison, P.E. 1965–1966

The post Cummis Set to Take the Lead at SBE appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC has announced the winners of the agency’s Excellence in Engineering Awards, which recognize Commission staff who have made outstanding engineering, scientific or technical contributions.

Julia Tu and Ryan Hedgpeth from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau share the 2021 Excellence in Engineering award for their work on the Commission’s technical investigation into the nationwide outage of a major wireless network.

“Their efforts will help ensure that rapid, efficient, nationwide radio communications service is available to all the people of the United States,” the Commission said. Their work on the project will help to avoid similar outages in the future, including through recommendations to service providers regarding periodic improvements to network diversity, validation of software upgrades in a lab environment, and active monitoring of 911 network components, the FCC added.

“Every day, the FCC benefits from the immense source of talent working within the agency,” acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said at the September Open Meeting, held last week. “I’m proud to recognize Julia and Ryan for their commitment to using their creativity and ingenuity in service of the public.”

Radio TechCon, which bills itself as the “UK radio and audio industry’s technical and engineering conference” has announced Nov. 29 as its date for a virtual gathering.

[For News on This and Other Shows See Our Show News Page]

Organizers are still putting together details. There will be speeches, interactive sessions and presentations along with breakout rooms and special events from sponsors.

Committed sponsors of the show include Broadcast Bionics, RCS, Lawo, Arqiva, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Broadcast Radio and Vortex Communications.

The post Radio TechCon Scheduled for End of November appeared first on Radio World.

FEMA and iHeartMedia will cut the ribbon later this month on an upgraded “Primary Entry Point” facility at WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Boston.

WBZ is the 13th U.S. station to work with FEMA to complete an “all-hazards upgrade,” which includes increased sheltering capabilities, expanded broadcast capacity and sustainable power generation for hazardous events.

[Related: “WLW PEP Station to Test New Studio Shelter”

“The modernization to the emergency studio increases iHeartMedia’s WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Boston’s resiliency to continue broadcasting under all conditions, including natural disasters and acts of terrorism,” they announced.

“This facility is one of 77 across the country that serve as a National Public Warning System Primary Entry Point (PEP) station, participating with FEMA to provide emergency alert and warning information to the public before, during and after incidents and disasters.”

The ribbon cutting will be open to news media but not the general public.

 

The post WBZ to Cut the Ribbon on Upgraded PEP Facility appeared first on Radio World.

GettyImages/wildpixel

FCC Form 395-B is intended to gather workforce composition data from broadcasters, including race and gender, but hasn’t been collected since 2001. It might be coming back.

The FCC has been contemplating its return since releasing a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) in July to refresh the existing record regarding collection of the EEO data. The collection of the form, which gathers workforce composition from broadcasters with five or more full-time employees, was suspended two decades ago because of a legal ruling and other unresolved issues.

[Read: EEO Supporters Lay Out Their Wish List]

While none of the major radio broadcast groups filed initial comments on the FNPRM, the NAB says it “does not object to the commission reinstating the FCC Form 395-B,” so long as station data is kept confidential while any related information made publicly available “is provided on an anonymous, aggregated basis.”

The group says the revitalized form is “likely to merely increase paperwork burdens without offering much corresponding value” that is duplicative of EEOC requirements. “The left hand of the government should be talking to the right one, instead of putting unnecessary additional burdens on broadcasters,” NAB wrote in comments to the FCC.

In addition, NAB says the FCC’s FNPRM provides “no evidentiary support for why such a data collection is necessary or how it will help further the goal of increased diversity in the broadcasting industry.”

“No one contests whether the industry should continue to strive to hire, retain and promote more women and people of color,” NAB wrote. It adds “broadcasting is replete with opportunities for talented individuals of every race, ethnicity or gender.”

In fact, the group suggests a better option for how the FCC can help increase diversity within the broadcast industry.

NAB states: “Rather than focus efforts on reporting data that is already largely apparent, a far better use of the commission’s time would be to reach out to broadcasters and ask exactly how the commission can be helpful to our efforts to increase diversity.”

It also renewed the group’s concern that making publicly available the required employment data on a station-attributable basis “will unlawfully pressure broadcasters to adopt race- or gender-based hiring practices” and that “publishing the racial composition of each broadcaster’s workforce would clearly exceed the FCC’s authority.”

NAB punctuated its argument by highlighting the EEO efforts of some of its members. For instance, Audacy provides yearlong fellowships that provide “diverse candidates early in their career access to resources, support and professional networks” they might not otherwise experience in a typical internship or entry level position. “Currently, 10 fellows started work on September 13, 2021, in [Audacy’s] news, sports content, digital, and ad sales departments,” NAB stated in its comments.

In addition, NAB says iHeartMedia invests resources to further the broadcaster’s commitment to inclusion, and credible, sustainable efforts to foster a diverse workforce culture. “(iHeartMedia) recently launched a DE&I Plan that includes measures committing to more diversity on their company’s board of directors to requiring that diversity be a part of recruiting, hiring and promotion decisions,” NAB wrote the FCC.

In conclusion, NAB says Form 395 is unnecessary since FCC already randomly selects approximately 5% of radio and television stations annually for a thorough EEO audit. “NAB estimates that the FCC has conducted EEO audits of at least 15,000 broadcast stations since this process was launched in 2003. To our knowledge, all of these investigations have resulted in fewer than 20 Notices of Apparent Liability or admonishments to broadcasters for EEO rules violations (0.1%), none of which involved a charge of discrimination.”

Meanwhile, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) other EEO supporters continue to push the FCC to do more to improve broadcaster diversity. MMTC in a group filing said they “enthusiastically endorse EEO data collection,” in their most recent comments last week to the FCC.

MMTC previously submitted to the FCC a list of nine proposals it says the commission should adopt to improve EEO compliance and enforcement.

Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel supports Form 395-B’s return. “This data is a vitally important to assess the industry’s workforce diversity. Moreover, its collection is required under the law,” Rosenworcel said at the time the FNPRM was released this summer.

Reply comments to the FCC on this topic must be submitted by Nov. 1, MB Docket No. 98-204.

 

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