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Pai Asks Broadcasters to Air Public Service Announcements Promoting Social Distancing

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Whatever happened to Blackloud and its earphones that were meant to add FM reception to smartphones?

Radio World readers will recall that the company introduced its earphones to some fanfare in 2018; the earphones were intended to provide listeners access to FM radio using existing smartphones even if the phone’s FM chip remained locked.

[Read: Blackloud Releases Soundot FM Radio for Apple]

Turns out the company discontinued operations in September 2019. Prompted by a reader query this month, we reached out to Ivan Ma, who had handled marketing and sales in the U.S.

“Blackloud belong to an ODM/OEM-based group, a factory production-based business,” he replied.  “We did a lot in 2018 to let people know about this headset, but unfortunately the sales number was not good, so the board decided to cease Blackloud operation, and focus on its ODM/OEM business.” Production of the earphones was discontinued.

The earphones came with their own RF reception chip, an FSi4705 FM/RDS receiver digital tuner IC from Silicon located in a “control box” or case enclosure on the wire/lanyard portion of the headset.

If someone has a set and wants service support, he said, they should email service@blackloud.com, lucas.fang@blackloud.com or may.tang@blackloud.com.

 

The post Remember the Blackloud Soundot? appeared first on Radio World.

What does it mean for both the radio industry and the American listener when a DJ is replaced with a nameless, faceless digital host known as artificial intelligence?

That’s an issue facing radio stations across the country as portions of the radio industry see traditional DJs dismantled in favor of a new emphasis on A.I. In January the nation’s largest radio station owner, iHeartMedia, announced it would reshuffle its organization and technology infrastructure to achieve just that. The company laid off several hundred staffers — some estimates say it was more than 1,000 jobs — including engineers, news staff and much loved DJs.

So what exactly is American radio losing if it loses its independent DJs?

That was addressed in a segment hosted March 16 by public radio journalist Todd Zwillich on the program “1A” (which airs on NPR station WAMU). After all, do we really need to know time and traffic from a real, live individual? Or does it make smart business for radio to turn more fully to automation in place of DJs?

[Read: iHeart Defends Painful Change]

And if so, what are we losing along the way?

After all, the goal of A.I. is to do nationally what radio always did locally: connect listeners with music. A.I. can choose to play the same song on similar stations to listeners in Spokane, Wash., and in Bangor, Maine. Is it totally off-base if a company like iHeartMedia is putting on the same carefully tested music on both of those stations?

Maybe not, according to Scott Fybush, editor of NorthWest Radio Watch, who was a guest on “1A,” “ but you lose a lot of local flavor,” he said.

Radio DJs are particularly necessary in the confounding time we finds ourselves in. “In confusing times like this, who do you turn to? Friends and family of course,” Zwillich said. “But social distancing can make that really tough. A higher power? That’s not for everyone.

“But there’s one place that’s kind of built for this moment. It’s always there, it’s free and it does a great job of keeping you company. It’s the radio. More than that, it’s the person on the radio. And for generations the people who really made a mark were the DJs.”

Many listeners certainly seem to think so. “With the way commercial radio has gone … I no longer listen to commercial radio for music,” one listener told Zwillich. “There is no personality anymore.”

Personality was in full display when Zwillich then introduced his (and others) childhood radio hero to the show.

American radio broadcaster and entertainer Dr. Demento has no shortage of personality — nor any shortage of mad music and crazy comedy — when he began broadcasting his show in 1970 at Los Angeles station KPPC(FM).

“Rock music had turned very serious — wonderful but very serious — so that radio stations at that time were no longer playing ‘Monster Mash’ or ‘Purple People Eater,’” he told Zwillich. “I realized that people wanted to hear funny stuff; the novelty songs. I brought those back and people loved hearing them.”

He also launched well-known stars into the radio universe. He played early tapes that Weird Al Yankovic had made at home in his basement.

So what do we lose if radio DJs give way to A.I.? “We lose a friend that would entertain you person to person,” Dr. Demento said (who now airs his radio program online and sometimes goes by his given name of Barret Eugene Hansen). “I was always told that you were to pretend that you wanted to talk to one person. One person you know. I always did that. That’s what a lot of disc jockeys did.”

Radio DJs are significant because they keep you entertained, they keep you going, they fill your day with music, he said.

“A.I. will have the same trouble doing that with the same warmth,” he said.

Powerful DJ voices can still be found, of course. Fybush estimates that although there are probably fewer DJs across the U.S. now than there were 20 years ago, their voices can be found in many places such as college radio stations and on public radio. There are also smaller locally owned stations and a number of music discovery stations out there that are churning out creative, original work, he said. In addition, a growing number of DJs are delving into podcasting as a means of producing creative programming.

“[They are] far from dead,” Fybush said. “I don’t want to talk about the death of the American DJ yet.”

Radio also remains a place where people discover their favorite songs, said Tuma Basa, director of urban music at YouTube. “I believe that radio still has that role,” he said. “People have more choices but it’s not anywhere close to the obsolescence that some operations in the digital world try to present.”

Another key role for the DJ is tastemaker. In many markets, DJs had an enormous amount of sway as to what is on the air. Today in the urban radio market, a DJ still retains a lot of autonomy in terms of playing records in their mix shows and introducing new artists.

“You can’t replace the human,” Basa said. “It’s the difference between a home-cooked meal and McDonalds.”

And as Zwillich said, wherever you go across the country you’ll find that a Big Mac is a Big Mac. That has some value certainly, especially as the radio industry continues to evolve.

“But you lose something if you’re a connoisseur of hamburgers,” he said.

 

The post The Promise of Personality — And What We Lose Without the DJ appeared first on Radio World.

Credit: Hannah A Bullock; Azaibi Tamin

Here’s a sampling of developments in the U.S. radio industry concerning the novel coronavirus situation, as of Tuesday morning, March 17.

The Vermont Association of Broadcasters has partnered with Vermont’s Department of Emergency Management to take precautionary measures. “In the very unlikely event that an EAS message is issued for quarantine or curfew in Vermont, the system code most likely to activate that event is SPW (shelter in place). Please make sure your engineers have your EAS boxes set up to recognize this code and potentially auto-forward messages,” VAB told members.

The association also encouraged stations to develop a physical contingency plan in case of having to close down facilities, and to stay in touch with third-party contacts at tower sites to make sure of access if public land closures come.

Comrex Technical Director Tom Hartnett said, “The move to virtualize live radio had already started and a lot of that gear is already in place, or can be repurposed.” He said many radio professionals clearly were thinking ahead. “The demand for our remote broadcast codecs has certainly ramped in recent weeks, and my sense is stations have created reasoned policies about cleaning gear, using disposable products like microphone shields, and allowing staff to work from home.”

How has Comrex responded in its own operations? “There have already been manufacturing challenges this year due to Chinese tariffs and other factors. And we got some long-awaited sizable orders through just before the virus hit. But so far, our team has managed to keep production rolling. This is due to some really good forecasting combined with some luck. We’ve prioritized manufacturing and testing of codec products that will be in highest demand through the crisis.” If there is any silver lining, Hartnett added, “I think we’ll find the need to centralize operations is much less than we thought, and we’ll continue creating more live content from home after the virus wanes.”

Equipment manufacturer Progressive Concepts reports a “huge increase” in sales of its Part 15 Stereo FM transmitters and the RODECaster Pro mixer for broadcasting in parking lots used for coronavirus testing. President Eric Hoppe noted that this is a license-free solution to get information to occupants of vehicles as they enter the parking lots where coronavirus testing sites are located.

Consultant and radio app developer Fred Jacobs wrote on his blog that consumers who don’t drive to work will spend less time in their cars. “Radio’s #1 listening environment — driving in the car with the radio on — is going to take a hit.” Jacobs recommends that stations that haven’t opened up their apps lately give them a test drive. “Whatever developer you bought it from ought to be able to make the necessary modifications to get it running smoothly again. If you’ve hesitated to promote your app because ‘you can’t make any money from streaming,’ you might want to rethink that strategy right about now.  For a growing number of listeners, your stream — and specifically, your app — may be the only way they can hear you. … If you want your content to be heard in 2020, you’d better have the best mobile interface you can afford.

Wayne Pecena, president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, says broadcasters are aggressively seeking to minimize or eliminate human presence in studios in terms of staff and individuals from the community. “In my case as a university licensee, it has meant cancellation of local studio production activities and as many staff members as possible working from home. Whereas the university is ‘open,’ classes have been suspended and turning to online resources to finish the semester.”

Pecena expects stations will ramp up remote “home” studios for local programming or even re-purposing “sports remote gear” as athletic events are being cancelled. “Stations that have adopted automation are likely better prepared for remote operation.” He cautioned that stations keep cybersecurity in mind. “For some who are quickly ramping up ‘work at home’ or remote access capability, do not overlook cybersecurity precautions. Unfortunately, cyber criminals likely see ‘opportunity’ as the rush to turn-up remote access capabilities might leave cybersecurity precautions minimize or forgo entirely for later.

The Radio TV Digital News Association published guidelines on keeping newsrooms clean. Among them: Don’t require field crews to report to the newsroom. Don’t use mics that touch interviewees. Use online interview tools as much as possible. Skip the handshakes.

The Sun Broadcast Group broadcast network said it is offering free programming to any radio stations that need to fill airtime due to the recent pandemic. “If stations are in need, they can reach out to SBG and receive any programming in their lineup that is available in their market for as long as needed, free of charge. There are no strings attached and no contracts needed.”

Beasley Media Group moved fast to deal with business closures with a campaign called “Operation Gift Card: New England  in the Greater Boston area. Its stations are inviting area restaurants, free of charge, to submit links to feature their gift card pages on Beasley Media Group Boston websites. 

Westwood One published answers to common questions it says are being asked by ad agencies and advertisers about the habits of people who are working from home. Read it here.

The Telos Alliance published cleaning and disinfecting instructions for working with consoles, microphones and other common surfaces. Among them: “Avoid equipment-spraying disasters by training people in-person about the proper use of cleaners and disinfectants around broadcast gear.”

When getting set up to work at home, Telos Senior Solutions Consultant Kirk Harnack said that in the rush to get remote talent on-air, stations may be tempted to bypass best-practice IT security measures. “This can open the door to hackers seeking specifically to leverage this opportunity. One rule of thumb for broadcast and IT engineers is this: If you have to forward a router port to a general purpose PC, you’s best re-think your approach to remote access. Perhaps the only router ports that should be open to the internet are those related to establishing client VPN connections. Require remote users to instantiate a VPN connection in order to access the fire-walled network. And the network to which they have access should be restricted to only those devices they’ll need to control,” Harnack said.

As far as best practices, Harnack said, clean your equipment, especially high-touch areas like fader knobs, speaker and headphone controls, mics, touchscreens and personal phones. Have employees bring and use their own headphones and mic muffs; get blue nitrile gloves for on-air staff.  “We’ll get through this,” he said. “Indeed, now is a great time for radio stations to reconnect with their audiences. Many people are at home —on social media.  This could be an ideal time for broadcasters to promote their shows, to re-stablish the companionship that comes through the human voice.  This is a great time to demonstrate what radio can be to our listeners.”

The post COVID-19 Operational Concerns for Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Claiming it to be the “first totally liquid-cooled transmitter for FM and HD Radio applications,” the Rohde & Schwarz says that the latest version of its THR9 transmitter features liquid cooling for the unit’s transistors as well as for its entire power amplifier stage, including power supplies, coupling units and absorbers.

According to the company, THR9 is designed for permanent operation at 45° C/113° F at full output power. At 40 kW output power only 1 kW of heat is dissipated into the environment, so air conditioning requirements are minimal.

The system runs on architecture that is independent of Microsoft Windows for all HD Radio entities including its Importer, Exporter and Exgine. Thus, adds Rohde & Schwarz, users are not dependent on the availability of security patches for MS Windows for reliable efficient operation.

For HD Radio applications, the R&S THR9 features a new HD Sync functionality, which provides automatic alignment of the HD Radio Diversity Delay between the analog and digital signals of a radio station.

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

Developed by Rohde & Schwarz, HD Sync eliminates unwanted blending artifacts that can degrade the listening experience and prevent recurring and extensive time alignment procedures for station engineers.

HD Sync for Exporter ensures full compliance to the HD Radio time alignment specifications.

The R&S THR9 also works in unison with the R&S RelayCaster solution, which enables the use of public internet connections for the STL of HD Radio transmitters thus eliminating the need for dedicated IP links to feed I2E or E2X streams.

Info: www.rohde-schwarz.com

The post Rohde & Schwarz Enhances THR9 appeared first on Radio World.

GeoBroadcast Solutions, a Chicago-based technology company, formally has asked the FCC to allow U.S. radio broadcasters to air geo-targeted programming on a voluntary basis.

“Radio is currently the only mass medium that cannot geo-target its content,” the company stated in an announcement. “The ability to add localized weather and traffic, news, emergency alerts, and advertising is beneficial to listeners, small businesses, and advertisers and would allow the industry to progress and remain competitive in the market.”

The firm makes a technology called ZoneCasting that uses FM boosters to distribute distinct content. It cited data from BIA Advisory Services and Advertiser Perceptions suggesting that advertisers would spend more money in FM radio if geo-targeting is available.

[Read RW’s 2013 story “ZoneCasting Offers New Techniques in Localized Broadcasting”]

“The rule GeoBroadcast seeks to change relates to FM boosters, and no changes to the FCC’s rules regarding translators or interference are necessary,” it stated. “The new rule would be similar to the 2017 FCC decision that allowed television broadcasters to use the Next Generation TV standard — also known as ATSC 3.0 − and distribute geo-targeted programming.”

It said its geo-targeting technology relies on existing receivers that are synchronized with FM booster stations and originate localized content and insert it at specific and limited times, while otherwise retransmitting a primary station’s signal. “This technology, which would be optional for broadcasters, does not impact interference between neighboring stations and does not cause harmful self-interference.”

GBS said it proposes to revise 47 Code of Federal Regulation §74.1231 by adding the following: “The programming aired on the FM broadcast booster station must be ‘substantially similar’ to that aired by its primary station. For purposes of this section, ‘substantially similar’ means that the programming must be the same except for advertisements, promotions for upcoming programs, and enhanced capabilities including hyper-localized content (e.g., geo-targeted weather, targeted emergency alerts, and hyper-local news).”

The post Tech Company Asks FCC to Allow Geo-Targeted Radio Programming appeared first on Radio World.

Disaster preparedness normally revolves around mitigating issues and maintaining broadcasts when extreme weather events like hurricanes and storms strike. There are not many disaster plans that mention virus outbreaks, such as the coronavirus emergency being experienced globally.

It appears as if the COVID-19 health emergency may persist for several weeks and potentially several months. Is your network prepared for the possible impacts of COVID-19 on broadcasts when staff either fall ill, or are asked to self-isolate when they have been in the vicinity of infected individuals?

In the following Q&A, Henrik Poulsen, technical manager for Nordjyske Media in Denmark, relates his preparations in case the COVID-19 outbreak requires on-air broadcast staff to be isolated and work from home.

Henrik Poulsen is pictured top left.

Radio World: Why did you decide to create six portable home studio kits for Nordjyske Media?

Henrik Poulsen: Currently, the strategy in Denmark is to put people who have COVID-19, and any people they have been close to, in home quarantine for 14 days. Our plan is a “worst-case scenario,” where nobody can come to the studios for 14 days. We have two radio stations (ANR and Radio Nordjyske) and normally more than three shows per day, but in case of COVID-19 the plan is to cut down to three shows of four hours on each station.

RW: What equipment did you include in the kits?

Poulsen: Our setup is only possible because of Tieline, Wheatstone, RCS and Røde. We have two setups, one for live and one for track (a song or two ahead):

• Tieline ViA is our go to solution for any remote broadcast, and we have two sets of the ViA codec. The challenge is our multi-host shows, where you are in the same room. Our take on this is to have the ViA at the “main host” house, and then have the sidekick on the Tieline Bridge-IT or Report-IT app connected to and mixing it internally on the ViA. Music, jingles and news are still being played out from the station, and we control it by RCS Zetta2Go and Wheatstone Glass-E.
• This is for track and can be done with one USB mic (Røde USB-NT mini). This is planned for midday shows and weekend tracks. Drive is one step up, and here we use “a Podcast studio setup”, with Røde all over. Rødecaster Pro (USB to the computer making it a soundcard) and one PodMic. This gives us an easy way to have phone calls in the shows as the Rødecaster supports Bluetooth connections from a mobile phone. They can be combined with a Tieline Bridge-IT making it a live setup.

One of the kits set up by Henrik Poulsen, Technical Manager for Nordjyske Media in Denmark.

RW: How about turning the fader up in the studio, when there is nobody at the station?

Poulsen: This is done by LIO (GPIO) in the Wheatstone and can be triggered by a button press on the Tieline ViA or a macro in the RCS Zetta playout system.

RW: Have you put together instructions for announcers about using the equipment if required, or how do you plan to support them with technical information?

Poulsen: Everybody has already taken their setup home and also tested it. It’s plug’n’play and won’t take any longer than five minutes to get up and running. As CTO, I have to be able to support and monitor all shows at any given time.

This is done by Wheatstone Glass-E and a Tieline Cloud Codec Controller, from where I can control any Tieline codec from setting the input levels if needed to set up connections, monitoring the quality of the stream coming in and out of our station. (public internet).

RW: How will you supply kits to people if they are required a long way from where you are located?

Poulsen: Everything is already in the homes of our hosts (me being one of them), and all the Røde is off the shelf and can be delivered from day-to-day, right to the doorstep.

RW: What do you foresee is the worst-case scenario for Nordjyske Media and other radio broadcasters?

Poulsen: Worst-case scenario is a total lockdown, but that is exactly what this plan is made to accommodate.

RW: Are you aware of other European broadcasters looking at similar work-from-home strategies, or is there anything else that you think would be useful to consider when preparing for the health emergency as it evolves over coming months?

Poulsen: Most of my CTO colleagues in Denmark are working on a plan where one or more staff members have to be away from the radio station. We have chosen to plan for the worst-case scenario and all workflows can now be done from home. This goes from music scheduling, traffic reports, news and hosting. Have a plan is my motto, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

The post Is Your Network Prepared to Work from Home? appeared first on Radio World.

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