Radio World

Every semester, I ask my students here at Lesley University how many of them listen to radio. And every semester, fewer and fewer hands go up.

Among those who do listen, most say it’s mainly when they are in the car with their parents. The majority tell me they prefer listening to Spotify or Pandora, where they can get only the songs they want, with no commercials.

Radio is not relevant to their lives, and some tell me it probably won’t be around much longer.

While I wish they felt differently, what they are saying is nothing new.

In fact, as far back as 1927, when “talking pictures” came along, and again in 1948 when a growing number of homes got television, some critics were predicting that soon, nobody would care about radio.

You can also fast forward to 2010, when broadcasters were feeling the rising effects of social media — that too was supposed to bring about the death of radio.

But while reports of radio’s demise have thus far been exaggerated, some very real challenges and problems exist.

As 2020 turned to 2021, I spoke with consultants, owners, programmers and journalists, asking them what they thought the future for broadcasting might hold. Their assessments varied, from being worried to cautiously optimistic to bullish.

Lack of attention

Among the biggest worries is that radio is indeed losing its younger demographics. My students are part of a trend: Teens and young adults are no longer fans of radio as previous generations were.

Nielsen Audio ratings bear this out: For instance since about 2014, according to an analysis by Edison Research, there has been a steady decline in ratings for CHR stations, as well as a decline in time spent listening. Interestingly, the only formats that have maintained some young adult listeners are classic hits and classic rock.

Consultant Fred Jacobs says this should come as no surprise. “The radio industry hasn’t cared about young people, especially teens, for years,” he said. And because of that lack of attention, he fears that “radio is going the way of jazz: an artifact of an older generation.”

He attributes this to the industry’s longstanding focus on the 25–54 demographic, often to the exclusion of anyone younger.

Another veteran consultant, Holland Cooke, concurs, and said, “Today, the real money demo is baby boomers, who grew up with the AM/FM habit.”

Engineering consultant Scott Fybush, who also publishes the NorthEast Radio Watch newsletter, says FMs are doing much better than AMs. Many boomers have fond memories of AM top 40, but these days, while a few heritage AM stations thrive, a growing number are dependent on syndicated programs or going silent.

Fybush expects the trend to continue. “AM is not going to vanish in [the next] 5 or 10 years, but it will become even more of a niche medium, and the thinning of less viable signals has already begun.”

Another area of concern is the lasting impact of media consolidation.

Ed Levine is president/CEO of Galaxy Media, which owns 13 stations in central New York. Like many observers, he cites the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as an important inflection point.

“The challenge that our industry faces,” he says, “is that for the last 25 years, radio has become bent to the will of a very small group of people. They wanted it ‘bigger and bigger,’ ostensibly to do ‘better’ and increase radio’s share of the ad spend. In reality, it was simply to get richer … much richer.”

While a handful of media companies were buying up more stations and financing them with private equity money, a small number of corporate CEOs became very wealthy.

But local stations began encountering problems. “Driven largely by private equity investment, radio was given revenue and cash flow goals that, in retrospect, were impossible to meet. So, when the revenue goals were not met, the only other way to increase cash flow was to cut people locally,” he said.

That reduction in local talent, to save money, was especially troubling, because broadcasters began sacrificing localism, the one thing that made radio unique.

Jerry Del Colliano, publisher of Inside Music Media, has been vocal about what he sees as the misplaced focus of corporate owners who were more interested in what was good for Wall Street, rather than what was good for Main Street.

Ongoing layoffs may have helped the corporate bottom line, but many talented local broadcasters lost their jobs, he said. Del Colliano is also critical of the FCC for allowing so much deregulation that companies are no longer required to maintain a local presence in their city of license. Radio itself isn’t the problem, he says, “it’s what these giant owners did to it.”

Vital information

But even though young people don’t listen as much as they used to, even though time spent listening is down across most demographics, even though there are lingering effects from media consolidation and even though the COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic downturns in many cities, numerous industry people remain hopeful about broadcasting’s future. Among them are local owners and operators who have seen firsthand how radio can still make a major difference.

One is Tami Graham, executive director of KSUT, Four Corners Public Radio, with studios in Ignacio, Colo. KSUT serves four states and includes among its listeners a large tribal population.

For her audience, KSUT has become a trusted resource.

“We serve five rural counties, and many [listeners] are in news deserts,” she says. With no local newspapers, KSUT has stepped in to fill the void for local news coverage.

“People know they can rely on us for vital information … whether it’s about COVID or about the wildfires. Good local content is more relevant than ever.”

She recalls that when the pandemic broke out, “We hired two part-time reporters and began covering it. Our plan was [to focus on it] for two weeks, but the response was so positive that we are still doing it.”

In fact, she notes, 2020 turned out to be a record-breaking year for fundraising, as donors came through to support KSUT’s programming.

“Our mission is “connecting people, creating communities,” she says, “and that is what we have been doing.”

Ed Levine too has found that being live and local works, no matter what kind of format the station has. He stresses the importance of developing local personalities and encouraging them to be heavily involved with their community.

“All of our air talents are native to their market. They know the area, and they love it. They don’t see [working for us] as a steppingstone to somewhere else. They don’t want to go elsewhere.”

Elroy Smith is a veteran urban contemporary programmer. He favors air staff with strong ties to the market. “That means they know the local landmarks, and they can pronounce the local street names.” And because they have their finger on the local pulse, they can react to whatever is important to the community at the time.

For example, during his tenure as operations manager and program director of Bonneville’s KBLX in San Francisco, air personalities volunteered at a food bank while the pandemic raged.

When George Floyd was killed and protests erupted nationwide, KBLX temporarily stopped playing music, instead airing news and information, and the morning show turned to talk. “The phones lines lit up. People wanted to have that connection with us.”

Smith believes building trust with the local community is essential. “People expect us to be involved.”

But what about attracting younger demographics? Is it still possible in a world where young people have so many choices, and radio has so much competition for their attention?

Sean Ross, vice president of music and programming for Edison Research and editor of the “Ross on Radio” newsletter, says, “I think if there’s any way forward, it involves making current music formats better for adults again, so that maybe they’ll again be modeling radio usage for kids when the carpool resumes.” He notes that there are some interesting and creative stations in smaller, non-rated markets.

Fred Jacobs wonders if the average owner understands younger listeners. “Do [they] know what teens want today?”

Jerry Del Colliano believes one reason young people can’t relate to radio is it sounds old to them. “Young people want [to listen to] someone who sounds like them … who talks about the things they care about. It’s not just the music; it’s the personalities. This generation craves authenticity.”

And Ed Levine adds, “You don’t want to just have older people working for you. Hiring younger people changes the culture of a company.”

Online presence

Changing digital habits of course are an important part of the story.

With so many local events cancelled because of COVID, station managers have found that their website often serves as a gathering place, where listeners can find up-to-the-minute information about a news story, listen to a podcast, replay a feature they had missed or interact with the on-air personalities.

Tami Graham says that during the pandemic, KSUT “bumped up our web presence and expanded our digital content. In a way, we are remaking ourselves. There are no program directors now; we have content directors. We want our listeners to have the most interesting content, whether it’s on the air, or on the web.

“We have also collaborated with local partners, like the Colorado Media Project, to create and share content. There is no competition — just collaboration for the good of the community.”

Holland Cooke feels that many programmers are adapting to the fact that today’s listeners tend to be busier and have shorter attention spans. “And people today want everything on demand,” he says, noting they don’t want their time wasted.

Scott Fybush agrees that some broadcasters are adapting to these new realities, but “not fast enough or with enough innovation.” He said that with more people working from home, the old idea of programming mainly to people in the office needs to be revisited, as well as rethinking traditional dayparts: Are people who now work or study at home getting up early to listen to a morning show, for example? And what about other dayparts?

“Almost nobody is paying attention to weekends, even though there has been a spike in usage then.”

“Embrace actionable”

Two comments I heard repeatedly: One, successful stations have relatable personalities who are plugged into the community. Two, successful stations are live and local as much as possible.

In a post-media consolidation era, as money-losing corporations divest from various properties, Del Colliano predicts there will be new opportunities for local ownership.

“Local operators may be the salvation of radio. After the [giant conglomerate owners] are gone, the small owners who remain will be able to reinvent the industry.”

Cooke too sees enhanced opportunities for radio, even during the pandemic. He advises programmers to not only “embrace local,” but to also “embrace actionable.” In other words, “Give listeners actionable information, like where they can get a vaccine, get an expert with tips for keeping their pets safe and healthy.”

And while all acknowledged the challenges of doing radio today, the people with whom I spoke agreed that the radio industry doesn’t do an effective job of selling its benefits.

“Radio suffers from a perception problem,” said Ed Levine. “We’ve got an inferiority complex. People may not listen for as long as they used to, but the listeners are still there.”

Perhaps there is no one format that will be radio’s salvation, and perhaps the programming will vary in each market, depending on the audience’s needs.

But radio still matters, says Elroy Smith.

“The story about the demise of radio is false,” he said; when it’s done well, “radio can still speak to today’s audience.” In fact, he says, “radio can be a breath of fresh air.”

The author is an associate professor of communication and media studies at Lesley University, Cambridge, Mass., a former broadcaster and radio consultant. She often writes about the history of broadcasting. 

Comment on this or any article to radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.

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Bauer Media Group has looked to Germany for an ad management platform for its UK operations.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

According to a release from AllMediaDesk, Bauer initially examined ad systems from 16 companies before settling on AllMediaDesk.

The AllMediaDesk system is cloud-based. Bauer Media Group has radio operations in the UK, all of the Scandinavian countries, Poland and Slovakia.

Send news for Who’s Buying What to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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When radio made its debut more than 110 years ago, little did we know the long-lasting impact that it would have on the ability to inform and communicate with the world.

That’s the essence of a new podcast by ITU Podcasts, which looks at the way that radio continues to innovate, connect and evolve.

To celebrate World Radio Day on February 13, ITU and the world peace organization UNESCO participated in the production of “The Resilience of Radio,” a podcast celebrating “the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring people together even amid crisis, disaster and emergencies,” said Mario Maniewicz, director of ITU’s radio communication bureau. Learn more at the website.

[Read: WRHU to Go Worldwide on February 12–14]

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies. ITU Podcasts designs podcasts that help listeners navigate the changing world of information and communication technology.

Ironically enough, the pandemic has illustrated how valuable radio can be. Even though prognosticators have predicted the demise of radio for years, the medium continues to thrive, said Maximillian Jacobson-Gonzalez, the podcast presenter. Radio is a $40 billion dollar industry with more than 90% of North Americans listening every week.

“How can technology help us face the dramatic shifts in how we live our lives? Next to other technological advances, radio could seem to be an antiquated medium,” said Jacobson-Gonzalez. But what we’ve seen over the past years, he said — and especially during the pandemic — is that radio is proving to have one of the most resilient backbones of all.

“Radio used to be a transistor on our kitchen table,” Maniewicz said. “Nowadays it is a standard accessory in our cars and smartphones.” And because of that, even as the pandemic raged around the world, radio showed it had the ability to bring people together amid crisis, disaster and emergencies.

The “The Resilience of Radio” podcast recounts the results from a recent study conducted by the Media Psychology Lab at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. The study looked at the listening habits, consumption, credibility and physiological impact of radio in Spain during coronavirus pandemic.

“Listeners had a very positive impression in the role that radio is playing during the crisis,” said Emma Rodero, senior lecturer and director of the Media Psychology Lab. In addition to a jump in the number of hours a day that people listened to radio, the physiological impact of radio became one of the survey’s most important findings, she said.

“Many people are reporting feeling bad and feeling fear and anguish,” she said. And in these cases, radio ended up playing a significant role in addressing that fear and anxiety, she said.

“When you’re feeling these intense and negative emotions, radio was there,” Rodero said. “[Listeners] reported that it ‘relieved my loneliness and made me feel happy and reduced my anxiety.’ You feel you are not alone.” This may be why radio was noted as being the most intimate and most personal medium of all those technologies surveyed.

“You emotionally connect to these voices on the radio,” Rodero said. “This is the power of radio in keeping people connected and informed.”

The podcast also touches on the effectiveness of campaigns run through radio, the community that comes with ham radio and the efficacy of radio when disseminating key health news across an entire continent like Africa, where it’s estimated that between 80% and 90% of households have access to a radio.

“The Resilience of Radio” podcast is the eighth episode of the ITU’s Technology for Good podcast series, which is focusing on how technology is helping to shape the world around us. The podcast series can be found on Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts among others.

 

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NAB Show organizers are hoping exhibit hall scenes like this one in 2019 with Bob Orban, John Kean and Lyle Henry will return when the 2021 NAB Show exhibits open Oct. 10–13. The first day of the two-day Radio Show is Oct. 13. (Photo: Jim Peck)

The National Association of Broadcasters has set the dates for this fall’s Radio Show, which it had announced earlier will be held in conjunction with the rescheduled 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

Interestingly, the Radio Show, co-run by NAB and the Radio Advertising Bureau, will be Wednesday Oct. 13 and Thursday Oct. 14, which means it opens on the last day of the NAB Show and extends one day beyond it.

[Read: NAB Show Cites Early Exhibit Hall Sales]

Assuming all goes as currently planned, the NAB Show itself will be held Oct. 9–13, with its exhibits open Oct. 10–13. The big annual spring convention was cancelled in 2020 just a few weeks prior due to the pandemic.

Radio Show registrants will have access to the NAB Show floor and All Access programming starting Oct. 9.

Registration for the fall Radio Show won’t open until summer.

The association also announced that a spinoff event of the annual Sales and Management Television Exchange is set for Oct. 8–9.

 

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DTS AutoStage promo image

The author is editor in chief of Radio World.

A free Radio World webcast will explore key automotive technology initiatives of Xperi. Registration is now open.

I’ll be interviewing executives with the technology company about its current initiatives in several areas. This March 10 webcast is co-sponsored by Xperi and Radio World, and is free to attend. It will also be available on demand after streaming.

First we’ll get a look behind the curtains at the Xperi/TiVo merger, which the company says has had a dramatic impact on its offerings thanks to TiVo’s content aggregation, discovery and recommendation engines. What does that mean for radio?

Also we’ll get an update on the rollout of all-digital HD Radio for the AM band in the United States. Now that the FCC has allowed the option, I’ll be asking what broadcasters should know about licensing, costs and the experiences of the first adopters, including Hubbard’s WWFD in Maryland, which tested the technology, and WMGG in Florida, which was an early adopter and broadcast this year’s Super Bowl in Spanish.

And we’ll learn about DTS AutoStage, the company’s global hybrid infotainment platform, which recently launched in the Daimler MBUX and is heard in new Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars. With everything going on right now around hybrid radio platforms and car infotainment systems, this is an important topic and I’m looking forward to learning more about it along with you.

You can sign up here. Hope to see you then.

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Media technology manufacturer Lawo has given Sales Director Nacho Gonzalez additional commercial responsibility for the Brazilian market.

“Nacho draws on experience of over 20 years of sales experience in Latin America,” the company stated.

“Soon after starting at Lawo in 2013 as sales manager for the LATAM region, Nacho was entrusted also with Spain and Portugal.” He speaks Spanish and Portuguese and is based at Lawo offices in Germany.

The company said it has experienced “exponential” growth in the Latin American and Iberian markets in recent years.

Gonzalez was quoted in the announcement: “Last year has been particularly complicated for the audiovisual sector, which has led to technologies changing at a rate unthinkable months ago and forcing some companies to be more flexible and reinvent many traditional processes.”

Send People News to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

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Tieline has added another IP audio codec to its lineup called the Gateway-4, which it expects to begin shipping by the end of next month.

It described it as “a powerful DSP-based 1RU IP codec designed for live remote broadcasting applications, as well as STL or SSL links,” the manufacturer stated in its announcement.

“The Gateway-4 also includes support for AES67, ST 2110-30, AES3 and analog I/O as standard, and an optional WheatNet-IP card.”

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

The Gateway-4 replaces the company’s Merlin and Genie STL audio codecs; it supports four full-duplex audio channels in 1RU to expand channel density by one compared with the older models. VP Sales APAC/EMEA Charlie Gawley said it is suitable for mission-critical broadcast applications requiring two to four audio streaming channels. Those who need more channels can choose the Gateway-8/16 multichannel codec, another recent introduction that replaced the Merlin Plus and Genie Distribution.

The new codec provides two stereo connections, or one stereo and two mono connections, or up to four mono full-duplex connections. Tieline said it also supports multiple unicasting to up to 20 endpoints and multicasting.

“For larger networks, the Gateway-4 is ideal for transmitter sites, remote trucks or rack-mounted remote kits,” Tieline said. “For affiliates and smaller stations it can be used to transport studio-to-studio links, or a stereo studio-to-transmitter link signal plus another stereo connection, or dual mono connections for remotes.”

Features include hitless packet switching using SmartStream Plus redundant streaming, and bandwidth aggregation using Fuse-IP technologies over internet connections; dual internal power supplies, dual LAN ports and dual AoIP ports; and an optional Gateway Euro ISDN module to integrate with legacy ISDN network infrastructure for primary or backup connections.

It is interoperable with other Tieline IP codecs and compatible over SIP with EBU N/ACIP Tech 3326 and 3368 compliant codecs and devices.

It is configurable through an embedded HTML5 Toolbox Web-GUI interface and is controllable using Tieline’s Cloud Codec Controller.

Info: www.tieline.com

 

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Rush Limbaugh pumps thumb after being awarded the Medal of Freedom by First Lady Melania Trump after being acknowledged by President Donald Trump during the State of the Union address in February 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Rush Limbaugh has died.

His wife Kathryn Limbaugh began the daily Rush Limbaugh today, with an announcement that Limbaugh had passed away.

His website has the headline “In loving memory of Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, the greatest of all time.”

The conservative talk radio icon had been suffering from lung cancer which he announced early last year.

His death brings to an end a remarkable chapter in media and politics.

Widely both admired and reviled, Limbaugh is acknowledged to have been one of the most influential personalities not only in radio but all of media in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Fans use terms like “radio revolutionary” and “doctor of democracy” and noted his role in helping the Republican Party, as when it took control of the House of Representatives in 1994. They admired him for raising millions of dollars over three decades for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Critics despised him for his reach and for his harsh commentary and outrageous comments about political and cultural figures and opponents.

He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1993 and the NAB Hall of Fame in 1998, in addition to receiving multiple Marconi Awards for “Syndicated Radio Personality of the Year.”

Many people in radio also consider him to have been a savior of the AM band in the United States, or at least that he gave the band many years of new relevance after its decline as a source of music.

He was also a very profitable business, exemplified for example in 2001 when he signed an eight-year,  nine-figure with Premiere Radio Networks, which at the time called it the highest priced distribution deal “in the history of radio syndication.”

Benztown has published an audio tribute, written and voiced by Bill Royal and produced by Tom Baker. Listen here.

Read a 2020 bio and profile of Limbaugh.

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This year, the editors of Pro Sound News, Mix and Radio World are working together to produce the first Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit, to be held virtually on April 1.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for companies that wish to reach professional technology buyers. The free one-day event will feature an exhibition floor, panel presentations, live chat and a host of media presentations showcasing the latest technologies and trends in radio and pro audio.

Watch the video below to learn more about sponsoring the summit.

Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit will feature two individual program tracks within a single exhibition hall. In each program track, the show will explore how manufacturers and users are making use of both current and emerging technologies in order to keep the media coming.

The post Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit Sponsorship Opportunities Available appeared first on Radio World.

Rob Banin

Rob Babin has been appointed to the Radio Board of the National Association of Broadcasters.

He is senior vice president, head of radio for Cox Media Group, overseeing 65 stations in 11 markets. On the NAB board, he replaces Bill Hendrich of Cox, who retired.

[Read: Cox Names Rob Babin Head of Radio]

He has been with CMG for 20 years and is also a board member of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau. He previously was on the board of the Florida Association of Broadcasters.

NAB also announced that RaMona Alexander, vice president and general manager of WDBD(TV), and Dan York, president and chief executive officer of Cox Media Group, were appointed to its TV board.

See other recent People News announcements.

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The CEO of IBC has revealed the show’s organizers are looking at “fall back dates” in December if they feel the show can’t go ahead as planned in September.

The backup dates are December 3–6, with the show still taking place in Amsterdam.

Michael Crimp said organizers are hoping the show can go ahead as planned in September, but they have “other scenarios” in place if that changes.

He added that they plan to announce any decision by the end of May/early June.

“We’ve had many challenges and many hurdles to overcome,” said Crimp. “Our aim is to reenergize and engage with the industry after challenging year. We feel a sense of purpose of being the catalyst to get everyone back on track.”

Crimp did warn that the show will not be as big as it has been in prepandemic years. “We expect to see a drop off in some international travel,” he said. “We do know that our European audience would make for a really strong show.”

He announced that for those unable to travel to Amsterdam this year, IBC will be launch a digital offering.

Key features of IBC 2021 include:

• A new IBC Showcase Theatre in Hall 12, with content streamed live to IBC’s digital platforms.
• Four new free-to-attend content hubs on the show floor, dedicated to Production & Post, Live & Remote Production, Direct to Consumer/ OTT and Content Supply Chain. The sessions from these hubs will also be available on the IBC digital event platform.
• A new, purpose-built home for the Content Everywhere Hub in Hall 5.

Organizers added that current bookings for IBC 2021 are going well, with 60% of stands booked compared to 2019.

 

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The author at work (note Super Bowl ring on his right hand).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the executive producer and co-host of the Chiefs Radio Network, I travel extensively to cover games for Entercom’s WDAF(FM) 106.5 The Wolf in Kansas City, the flagship station of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Throughout my three decades of broadcasting Chiefs games, we’ve been tasked with backhauling games from all over the world. The NFL schedule can send us to any of 31 other markets in the United States, plus the United Kingdom and Mexico.

To accomplish this, we need solutions that are compact and portable but have a tremendous amount of connection flexibility.

We own three rack-mounted Tieline Merlin Plus codecs: one at WDAF, one at Arrowhead Stadium (our home stadium) and one installed in our road kit. We also have a Tieline ViA — which I have found to be a perfect combination of power and portability.

An entire game day broadcast is nearly eight hours including pregame and post-game. Some of this content can occur simultaneously and requires multiple discrete audio routes. And because the content is live, its coordination demands real-time two-way communication.

We solved these needs by utilizing all six channels of the Merlin Plus.

Two channels send stereo program to the studio, and on the return path we receive a mix-minus and a communication feed from the network TV truck that is used to coordinate commercial breaks. Channel 3 is for IFB to and from our studio master control.

Channel 4 is for incoming Report-IT app calls for game updates from around the league. Channel 5 connects the ViA from its remote stadium location — or, because of COVID, an offsite location. Channel 6 connects the ViA in IFB mode for comms with the remote talent. As a setup it’s nuts. But it all works beautifully and reliably!

SmartStream

For us, one of the most important aspects of the ViA is the ability to provision it to any type of network.

The setup allows us to configure a primary, secondary and tertiary network easily. And the SmartStream technology provides connection stability and redundancy by allowing us to utilize multiple networks at the same time seamlessly.

Using the dual SIM internal LTE module here in the U.S., we can choose between Verizon and AT&T LTE networks, or use both simultaneously. Internationally we use LAN and Wi-Fi networks in the same fashion. We have also streamed with USB air cards and USB tethering.

Having six bidirectional streams in a single rack space has made Merlin Plus an ideal choice as our primary codec for the studio, home and away stadiums. Over the years, the Report-IT app has become our primary method of feeding locker room interviews. Report-IT provides the convenience and mobility of a cellphone, with the quality and stability of a professional codec.

For the gameday backhaul we use a dedicated MPLS [Multiprotocol Label Switching] network installed and maintained at each NFL stadium by Brian Kassa at Sports Backhaul Network. It’s incredibly stable and has the bandwidth to support the full use of the Merlins.

For locker room and various feeds, we also use the ViA connected to the internet. We encode using Tieline’s Music Plus algorithm at 48 kHz/256 kbps or Opus voice at 64 kbps and always configure SmartStream Plus redundant streaming (even for our Report-IT users).

During the pandemic we’ve had limited access to stadiums due to the NFL’s COVID isolation and lockdown. For the 2020 regular season, we elected to broadcast from home and not travel. This required coordinating several fiber real-time video and audio feeds from each venue. The ViA became invaluable for allowing us to remote talent off-site while retaining the level of communication needed to coordinate segments in an extremely fast-moving live broadcast.

The need to socially distance or remote someone in quarantine was made possible by the variety of options that the Merlin, ViA and Report-IT apps provide. We had talent broadcasting from home and remote hotels. We even used the ViA to extend one individual across the room so we could meet the NFL’s social distance requirements while maintaining an IFB path for communication.

The codecs generally don’t require any user interaction — we simply load the setup and connect. And having remote access to the equipment has been a game-changer this year, whether using the built-in WebGUI or Cloud Codec Controller. My stadium engineer Nate Wetmore and studio engineer Ken Wolf are responsible for supporting everything from legacy Tieline G3 Commanders to Bridge-ITs to Merlin and ViAs. So the consistency of the user interface and configuration is a huge time-saver.

Post-pandemic, remote control will continue to be important as it can be especially difficult to access equipment physically in large stadiums. Remote engineering removes that obstacle.

The codecs perform incredibly. Setup is simple and the user interface is intuitive given the complexity of both the Merlin and ViA. The sonic quality and network stability make them well suited for critical broadcasts.

The ultimate compliment for a codec is when we hear people say they are surprised that a Report-IT or ViA user is not in the room with us. Combine that quality with the easy administration provided by having everything under one roof of the Tieline Cloud Codec Controller, including Report-IT users, is why the Chiefs Radio Network relies on this equipment to provide Chiefs games to more than 100 affiliates.

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 Dawn Shewmaker at Tieline US in Indiana at 1-888-211-6989 or for international queries contact Charlie Gawley at Tieline in Western Australia at +61-8-9413-2000 or visit www.tieline.com.

 

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iHeartMedia plans to acquire audio ad technology company Triton Digital for $230 million.

It said the agreement to buy Triton from E.W. Scripps Company “establishes iHeartMedia as the only company to provide a complete set of advertising technologies and measurement solutions for all forms of audio media.”

It highlighted benefits of the acquisition in expanding its “data and measurement capabilities, programmatic platform, self-service platform for small businesses and podcast capabilities.”

Providing some insight into where iHeart sees the greatest business opportunity, the headline of the press release emphasizes iHeart’s description of itself as a podcast publisher as well as its role in“ all forms of audio media.”

The agreement is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

“With this acquisition, iHeartMedia will now be able to provide audio content to producers and advertisers with an industry-leading full ad service package for streaming and podcasting no matter their size, reach or distribution method,” it stated.

iHeart says it will be the first company in the audio market “to provide four distribution methods for audio, including on-demand, broadcast and digital streaming radio and podcasting, and to service all audio assets programmatically.”

This is the latest in a string of audio-related moves. IHM acquired podcast marketplace Voxnest late last year and, as it noted in the announcement, in the past two and a half years it also acquired buying platform Jelli Inc., social intelligence platform Unified and, through its subsidiary RCS, the cloud-based audio platform Radiojar.

The post iHeartMedia Will Acquire Triton Digital appeared first on Radio World.

This article appeared in Radio World’s “Trends in Codecs and STLs for 2020” ebook.

Working from home or remote studios is in “normal” times a challenge for broadcast and voiceover talent. When one factors in a pandemic lockdown and the ensuing scramble to move studio-quality audio back and forth, a service like ipDTL can make that task less of a challenge.

The ipDTL service has been enjoying more attention during the pandemic but has been around for several years. It comes from In:Quality, which “operates a worldwide network for the real-time transmission of professional audio.” The company says its users include the BBC, New York Public Radio, NPR and Global Radio.

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The service is based on the open source Opus codec. Founding Director Kevin Leach, a former radio host and BBC sound engineer, says ipDTL runs smoothly on any modern computer: “If you can browse the internet smoothly on your computer, then you can run a stable ipDTL connection.”

To send a link.

A subscriber of the service can send a link to another location, where that link is opened in a browser and a bidirectional studio quality audio link would then be established.

ipDTL has additional capabilities: With the proper configuration, the subscribing user can also connect to legacy ISDN codecs (where still available) and even connect to a voice grade telephone. With SIP protocols and using a sip.audio account from In:Quality, a subscriber can also connect to hardware codecs (e.g. Comrex, Tieline, Telos, JK Audio) that are configured for Opus connections.

It is also compatible with G.722 and G.711 over IP. There is a video angle as well, VP8 and H.264. And it lives on Windows, Mac, Linux and ChromeOS computers.

Subscription Levels

There are three levels of ipDTL annual subscriptions: Bronze users can send one connection link, Silver users two and Gold users may send up to four simultaneous connections. A version allowing six connections is in the late stages of testing. The Gold subscription also includes basic video functionality. Prices start at $15 per month. Subscribers get a sip.audio address (XXXXX@sip.audio), which allows SIP-enabled devices to talk to the subscriber.

How does this work in the real world? I tested the service recently during a virtual NAB Show demonstration with Leach.

There are some caveats from my experience.

All codec developers (software and hardware) caution users that sending a true mix-minus is vital for proper operation of the codec. For example: On a mixer like the Allen+Heath ZED 10, there are three ways to send a mix-minus (aux send, FX send and record bus). The best one that seems to work with USB connections is the record bus, where inputs other than the USB connections are selected (mics, etc.). The USB out can be fed from the record bus. If the main mix were fed to the USB out, that would create a feedback loop. A standalone codec could be fed mix-minus from the aux or FX send.

Screenshot

During our demonstration, I fed the record bus with the USB output. When Leach talked about the importance of a mix-minus, I created a feedback loop (which happens when the codec or other receive channel is fed back to the other end of the connection).

Unless a laptop is within visual distance of a wireless router, and it is the only device on the network at that particular time, in:Quality strongly recommends a wired connection to the network router when using the ipDTL service. With a wired gigabit connection over Cat-6,  I experienced no connection problems.

Leach says multiple SIP connections with ipDTL at the studio end provide maximum flexibility. He said devices such as Wheatstone SwitchBlade and Comrex Access MultiRack can receive multiple duplex real-time SIP streams from remote sites and guests. The studio so equipped can send a connection link to talent and guests so they can connect easily to the SIP hardware. There’s also an option to connect from one of the company’s range of SIP Opus Codecs.

Subscribers may opt to be listed in a database of ipDTL users around the world for an extra charge. That’s a useful resource for audio reporters and producers, and it could also help those producers and reporters to connect with newsmakers and subject matter experts.

An online network map lets the user find a studio, search for voice talent or see which radios stations are “ipDTL ready.”

“For too long now, there has been uncertainty and trepidation about the migration from ISDN to IP codecs,” Leach said. “With SIP now, it feels like we’re finally past the point of no return, but there’s still some work to do. A newspaper journalist should be able to ask a radio producer what SIP address they should call for an interview, and get a confident reply. Looking at the messages in our support inbox, we’re not quite there yet.”

Paul Kaminski, CBT, is a longtime Radio World contributor, and host and producer of msrpk.com’s “Radio-Road-Test” program. Twitter: msrpk_com; Facebook: PKaminski2468

 

The post Live Remote Broadcasting in Your Browser appeared first on Radio World.

The author is president of WorldDAB.

Last year was a pivotal year for DAB+ radio — with a string of developments providing clear evidence of the standard’s progress:

• In October, Germany launched its second national multiplex — offering 16 new services to a potential audience of 67 million people;
• In December, Switzerland confirmed that it would be switching off FM radio — starting with the public broadcaster in 2022, followed by the private broadcasters in 2023;
• Also, in December, the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) came into force — requiring all new car radios in the EU to be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio.

Device Sales

These market developments have been mirrored by strong consumer demand for DAB+ radios:

• DAB/DAB+ consumer receiver sales increased by 12% in 2020 (analog sales dropped by 21% over the same period);
• In Q4, the DAB/DAB+ performance was even stronger with sales up 22% year-on-year.

Consumers are moving away from FM-only devices to the more compelling offer available on DAB+ (increased choice, more consistent audio and, increasingly, color displays).

DAB’s Green Credentials

At the end of last year, a major advance was made when the BBC published its report into the energy footprint of its radio services. Presented at the WorldDAB General Assembly, this report broke new ground as, for the first time, it considered energy consumption across the whole of the radio full value chain: production, distribution, and consumer listening.

A BBC report indicated that DAB was the most energy-efficient platform for radio distribution.

The conclusions highlighted the greater efficiency associated with DAB radio:

• 28% more efficient than FM (per listening hour);
• 59% more efficient than IP (per listening hour).

These findings are clear evidence of the critical role which DAB/DAB+ plays in creating a sustainable future for radio — a priority of increasing importance for broadcasters and policy makers.

Prospects for 2021

The next major development for DAB+ in Europe will be the launch of national (i.e. metropolitan) services in France.

The media regulator, the CSA, has given the green light for services to be on air beginning July 15. Two national multiplexes offering 25 services will be available, with the key focus on the major road networks — starting with the highways between Paris and Marseille.

Conclusion

The EECC directive, coupled with strong developments in key European markets including France and Switzerland confirms that DAB+ is established as the core future platform for radio in Europe.

The strong growth in DAB+ receivers in cars and consumer radios underlines this progress, and the significance of these advances should not be understated.

• Radio’s role as the most trusted source of news and information has rarely been more important;
• In times of emergency, broadcast radio consistently provides levels of service reliability unmatched by mobile networks;
• The environmental advantages of DAB radio are clearly evidenced in the BBC report into energy consumption.

The challenge for us now is to maintain this momentum. Digital broadcast platforms lie at the heart of radio’s future. Now is the time to ensure we have the policy frameworks and strategic focus to deliver on this promise.

The post DAB+ Takes Center Stage appeared first on Radio World.

A OneMedia promotional image.

It may be a little early for radio groups or SiriusXM to get worried, but they might want to take a close look at what Sinclair Broadcast Group is doing in Seattle.

This month the company is launching ATSC 3.0 over-the-air delivery of four Sinclair radio stations in the market as part of its STIRR XT digital audio service.

OTA simulcasts of KVI(AM), KOMO(AM), KOMO(FM) and KPLZ(FM) will complement 15 digital audio channels already being delivered “over the top” as part of STIRR XT.

When it announced the plan a couple of months ago, Sinclair VP of Technology Strategy Michael Bouchard was quoted in the press release saying the technology “lays the groundwork for our future plans of enhancing the reception of terrestrial over-the-air radio services throughout the country, as NextGen TV is deployed by broadcasters everywhere.”

From a strategic point of view, the rollout — while initially modest — demonstrates Sinclair’s commitment to delivery of more than better-looking and sounding television via ATSC 3.0, says Mark Aitken, senior vice president, advanced technology, for Sinclair and the president of its ONE Media 3.0 business.

“One of the reasons we are doing this is because the automotive guys always ask: ‘Is there an alternative to digital radio [and] to SiriusXM that can be delivered via the ATSC 3.0 standard?’” he says.

While acknowledging it is “early in the game,” Sinclair is hoping these “Seattle 3.0” radio simulcasts — the first of many to launch in the broadcaster’s ATSC 3.0 markets — will pique the interest of automakers as they plan for the future, he says.

Automakers need a minimum of three years to add anything to what’s on the drawing board. The launch of STIRR XT OTA today just might be enough to nudge them into including 3.0 receivers in future models, he says.

“We think there is a real compelling reason to consider the inclusion of ATSC 3 receivers in cars,” says Aitken. “Once you’ve done that, all of the other opportunities for what can be carried in that digital spectrum open up.”

Frequently cited use cases for ATSC 3.0 in vehicles include delivery of in-car entertainment, map and navigation data and fleet-wide software updates for computer-controlled automotive tech.

NextGen TV hybrid service

Like ATSC 3.0 itself, the combined STIRR XT is a hybrid service — part OTA and part OTT, or “over the top.”

When the 3.0 radio simulcasts launch, only NextGen TV sets and gateway owners in Seattle will be able to receive them. However, in October 2020 Sinclair revealed early production samples of its Mark One smartphone with built-in 3.0 receiver. These phones and other expected 3.0 consumer devices will make mobile reception of OTA 3.0 digital audio a reality one day, says Aitken.

“We truly will be delivering radio broadcast content — just delivered over a different spectrum,” says Aitken. “It’s not FM; it’s television spectrum.”

Consumers access STIRR XT via the STIRR Radio broadcast app available universally on televisions labeled as NextGen TV sets. When consumers launch the app, they can navigate to STIRR Radio to begin enjoying OTT- and OTA-delivered digital audio channels, he says.

Sinclair has been in discussions with other broadcasters about simulcasting their radio stations over the air via ATSC 3.0 with STIRR XT in markets where the station group has no radio stations, says Aitken, who said the service at launch will be purely ad-supported.

XHE-AAC codec and ATSC 3.0

STIRR XT audio channels delivered over the top are being encoded using the Dolby AC-4 audio codec, which is specified to be used in North America as part of the ATSC 3.0 standard.

However, Sinclair has other plans for STIRR XT channels delivered over the air. Rather than AC-4, the station group will encode OTA audio channels using the xHE-AAC (Extended High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) codec.

“We are working on integrating a broadcast app-delivered highly efficient radio audio codec, which is not technically supported in the ATSC 3.0 standard,” says Aitken. “But because this is all IP — and this is the magic of IP — that broadcast app will deliver a player for an audio codec that does not exist in the ATSC 3.0 standard.”

Motivating Sinclair’s choice of xHE-AAC for OTA-delivered STIRR XT is bandwidth efficiency, says Aitken. With xHE-AAC, Aitken predicts significant bandwidth savings.

For example, a stereo audio channel encoded with AC-4 requires 96 kilobits per second, while the same channel needs just 24 kbps when encoded using xHE-AAC, he says.

The extra efficient codec also puts Sinclair’s STIRR XT OTA delivery in line with what’s going on around the world in digital radio, he says.

“xHE-AAC is the audio codec that is part of the digital radio standard called Digital Radio Mondiale,” says Aitken. “It is deployed globally, and it is in fact the most efficient commercially available codec.”

Adopting the Digital Radio Mondiale framework in the STIRR Radio broadcast app ensures that all of the tools for radio functionality are already available, he adds.

The Seattle rollout of STIRR XT follows Sinclair’s initial deployment in Oklahoma City. Sinclair plans to make STIRR XT available in all of its ATSC 3.0 markets.

“The whole point here is that we are using STIRR as a backbone piece of our OTT-OTA convergence strategy,” says Aitken. “We are bringing to bear all of the tools and all of the assets that we can to step forward with a competitive foot with the services we can offer.”

 

 

The post Sinclair Readies ATSC 3.0 Radio Simulcast   appeared first on Radio World.

A low-power FM station in Marion, Ohio, has lost its license after failing to reply to Federal Communications Commission correspondence.

The station was WWGH(LP), which now has the dreaded “D” prefix added to its call sign, meaning deleted. For trivia buffs, the station call letters are a reference to Pres. Warren G. Harding, who lived in Marion.

The LPFM was licensed to the Marion Education Exchange. It had applied for license renewal, but after the commission sent the station a letter of inquiry requiring more information and never heard back, the license was deleted.

[Read: Georgia LPFM Agrees to Consent Decree and to Pay $10,000 Penalty]

“Although the [letter] directed MEE to respond no later than Jan. 7, 2021, MEE has filed no response,” wrote Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner. Failure to respond to official correspondence is cause for dismissal of an application.

The Marion Star website has a news account of the dispute that led to this situation. It involves program manager Scott Spears and allegations about his role and the makeup of the station board.

The FCC’s revocation letter did not discuss the underlying allegations that had been made about the station, simply that the license was being pulled for lack of response.

The newspaper quotes Spears saying that Friday was the first the station had heard from the FCC, that it was working on a formal response and planned to work with the commission on its investigation. The newspaper reported that the station remained on the air this weekend.

 

The post Ohio LPFM Has Its License Yanked appeared first on Radio World.

Sennheiser is looking for a partner to invest in its consumer electronics business so it can better focus on its professional markets.

“In our Professional and Consumer Divisions, we have four business units in total: Pro Audio, Business Communications, Neumann and Consumer Electronics,” said co-CEO Andreas Sennheiser, who was quoted in a company announcement.

[Read: Sennheiser Announces Layoffs Amidst Slowing Market]

“In all of these areas we see great potential for growth. At the same time, they are characterized by different customer groups, customer requirements, product life cycles and market dynamics.”

Co-CEO Daniel Sennheiser said that the company wants to concentrate its own resources on the three business areas in the Professional division and “are looking for a strong partner to invest in our consumer business.”

The announcement essentially is a sales pitch to potential partners: “The headphone market and the soundbar business in consumer electronics offer great growth potential — despite a highly dynamic market and strong competitive pressure,” the company wrote. “This is especially the case for the true wireless headphone market.”

It seeks partners to work in segments like premium headphones, enhanced hearing, audiophile and soundbars segments.

 

The post Sennheiser Plans a “Repositioning” appeared first on Radio World.

Make it part of your routine to check ground connections like this UFER ground.

The worst lightning damage I ever saw happened in the month of February; and it was, in more than one sense, a perfect storm.

We were in the process of upgrading our Detroit FM facility, replacing a 1985-vintage Continental 27.5 kW transmitter with a much newer version of the same transmitter. The aux had long been an RCA BTF20, and our chief engineer had pulled it out of service in preparation for installing the new rig.

The new transmitter was at the site and still on the skid and wrapped in plastic. In other words, we had no working auxiliary transmitter.

In February in Michigan, we’re usually much more concerned about snowstorms and antenna icing than lightning; but this particular year, a warm weather system moved through and fired off a line of severe thunderstorms.

Vaporized

At that time I had been with the company for about a decade, and I was well acquainted with the propensity of that particular tower, a 500-foot Pirod free-standing Detroit landmark, to take “grand mal” lightning hits.

I had done everything I knew at the time to mitigate that. I had an array of ground rods at the tower base, and all transmission lines were bonded to that array where they departed the tower. It had been a good while since we’d taken a hit that produced damage.

When the storm system came through, BOOM! The tower took one of those grand mal hits, and the station was knocked off the air.

The air staff called the engineer, who took one look at the situation and called me. I caught the next flight from Dallas to Detroit.

Looking at the Continental transmitter, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Those familiar with that design know that it has two rows of seven panel-mount fuse holders in the middle of the front panel of the rightmost (power supply) cabinet. Every one of those fuse holders was … gone! Vaporized!

Looking behind the panel, the wires, some not in too good a shape, were still there, the ends turned into beads where the copper strands had melted.

It didn’t take me long to make an executive decision. There was no telling what other damage there was inside that transmitter, so for the moment I forgot about it and focused on getting the new-on-the-skid transmitter connected and running.

That took a few hours, and it wasn’t the prettiest installation, but it got the station back on the air.

Thankfully there was no other significant damage to studio equipment, although as I recall, a good bit of ancillary equipment in the transmitter room was blasted to smithereens and had to be replaced or bypassed.

Missing Connection

With that done, I started doing a post-mortem of sorts to try to figure out what had happened. After all, if it happened once, it could happen again.

I found that the strap connecting the main 3-1/8-inch rigid transmission line to the station reference ground (that array of rods I mentioned earlier) had been severed. Lightning evidently had hit the main antenna, which is on a pole on the top of the tower, and the current travelled down the rigid line right to the older Continental transmitter.

Some of the current no doubt flowed through the tower structure to ground, but evidently the path to ground through the transmitter cabinet had a much lower impedance.

The transmitter cabinet was connected to a safety ground that was eventually tied to the service entrance ground and whatever ground Edison provided. And evidently, enough potential was developed across the Bakelite (or whatever the material) panel-mount fuse holders that they vaporized. I found pieces of those fuse holders on the floor several feet from the front of the transmitter.

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One side of most, if not all, of those fuses was connected directly to the incoming AC power phases, and (again, evidently) those phase conductors, which were shunted to ground with an LEA-Dynatech lightning suppressor, presented a lower impedance to ground than the safety ground on the transmitter cabinet. All the grounds were at one time tied together, but in the process of uninstalling the old RCA aux, somehow one critical ground conductor was disconnected.

We wasted no time repairing the broken strap that gave lightning current a place to jump off transmission lines before entering the building, and we brought in an electrician and had him bond all the grounds together so that the tower ground, station reference ground, service entrance ground and lightning suppressor ground were all at the same potential.

I can’t remember what all was blasted in that Continental transmitter, but we did fix it and it saw many years in auxiliary service.

Now Is the Time

The point of this sordid account … well, there are a couple of points.

First, a lightning hit can happen at any time, during just about any month of the year.

In Colorado where I live, we sometimes experience a phenomenon called “thundersnow,” where we get lightning and thunder during snowstorms. I’ve never experienced that anywhere else, but my guess is that it’s not uncommon anywhere it snows. Everywhere else, a passing weather system can fire off lightning just about anytime.

Next, the best way to prevent lightning damage is to give lightning a place to go other than into or through your equipment.

That means a jumping-off point where transmission lines, power conductors and control cables leave the tower. It also means a low-impedance ground, which is more easily achieved in some locations than others. Some soil types may require chemical rods (which you have to maintain). And it means keeping all grounds at the same potential, with heavy-gauge wire used to connect rods and bond everything together.

There are a lot of good resources out there dealing with lightning protection, including NFPA780, which is the National Fire Protection Association’s “Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems.”

Radio World has an excellent ebook available titled “Is Your Transmitter Ready for Lightning Season?”

Broadcast Engineering Conference papers have been presented on the topic. And of course there’s an excellent chapter on the topic in the 11th Edition of the NAB Engineering Handbook. A search of the internet will turn up numerous other resources.

Whether or not you get lightning in your area outside the usual thunderstorm season, now is the time to inspect your facilities and prepare. Forewarned is forearmed.

We still get the occasional lightning strike on that Detroit tower — we have experienced two in the past 12 months — but we seldom see any direct damage. Our excellent engineering staff in Detroit is well aware of the potential (no pun intended) for damage and makes a visual inspection of the entire ground system, including transmission line bonds, part of their routine.

That kind of thing should be part of every broadcast engineer’s routine, especially as we head into thunderstorm season.

In the new issue of Radio World Engineering Extra, Wayne Eckert, who spent many years protecting AT&T sites from lightning damage, will offer tips so that you can apply some of his techniques to broadcast studio and transmitter facilities. We would do well to pay attention to what he has to say.

Cris Alexander, CPBE, AMD, DRB, is director of engineering for Crawford Broadcasting. Email him at rweetech@gmail.com.

The post Are You Prepared for Lightning? appeared first on Radio World.

The author is owner of Rural Florida Communications Cooperative. He is a retired AT&T employee who has a great deal of experience protecting communications facilities from lightning and surges. He saw Mark Persons’ recent account in Radio World of a lightning strike to the pole supporting the KRJM STL antenna and was inspired, first, to provide some tips for John Bisset’s Workbench column in the Dec. 9 issue, then offer the following in-depth article for readers of RW Engineering Extra. We in turn are inspired to share it with you.

A wise man who invented the air terminal, Benjamin Franklin, once stated, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and the lightning damage at KRJM bears witness to that.

Now, let me start with dispelling an old myth. I have heard from a number of engineers that “If you take a direct hit, it’s all over; there is nothing you can do to prevent that.”

Such a statement is patently false. The Tier 1 Carrier I retired from has tens of thousands of cell sites and switching offices all over the U.S., and they take thousands of direct hits annually without sustaining any damage at all.

Why? Because we engineer layered lightning protection into each site. Be it standalone, collocated on a broadcast tower or on a rooftop, proper protection equals greatly lowered losses and greatly increased uptime.

So how is this done? Well, let’s use the example of KRJM(FM), which Mark Persons wrote about in “What Happens When Lightning Hits? A Case Study,” which appeared in Radio World in October, and which you can find at radioworld.com by searching for keyword KRJM.

Beginning with the improperly protected and grounded pole and ending at the last burned-out device, this is a perfect example of where an ounce of prevention could have prevented a lot of heartburn.

Let’s start with the pole. When I see a pole shelled out from lightning, the first thing I look for is a down conductor. I could be incorrect, but I don’t see one on that pole.

Fig. 1: A properly installed pole with down lead. (Click here to enlarge.)

A down conductor is a simple lightning protection device. Before the pole is placed, an AWG #6 hard-drawn copper conductor is placed on it using fencing staples, attaching it from the top of the pole to the butt. The installer leaves six or so inches of the conductor standing above the top of the pole and coils up a few feet of it on the butt, starting in the center, and where the conductor crosses over itself, places a staple diagonally to connect the two conductors to each other.

The goal is to produce a low-resistance, low-impedance grounding electrode on the butt of the pole. When the pole is placed in the mounting hole, it will make good contact with the earth, producing a good solid grounding electrode.

The down conductor provides a bypass for the lightning energy to earth, sparing the pole and any attachments from damage. See Fig. 1.

If the pole is already placed, a down conductor can be added by placing a ground rod with a minimum length of eight feet into the earth.

One important note: Always call for a utility locate before driving a ground rod or doing any digging. In most states, the number is 811. Failure to do so can get you killed, or if you survive hitting a buried utility line, the least you’ll get is a substantial bill from the utility for the underground damage you caused.

The installer then installs the down conductor in the same manner as a new pole, minus the below-grade work, connecting the down conductor to the grounding electrode.

All that protects the pole, but what about attachments?

The first step is to bond all attachments to the down ground lead with an AWG #6 copper conductor. That’s your first layer of protection.

The next step is surge protection, commonly referred to as Transient Voltage Surge Suppression.

A TVSS can be installed in one of two locations. The best location is where the cables coming off the tower or pole enter the building. However, if the building is metal, it is better to deploy a primary TVSS near the base of the pole or tower.

If the TVSS is rated for outdoor installation, a cabinet is not required. However, most of the time you will want to keep the TVSS in a dry location and out of sight.

Fig. 2: TVSS devices installed on a ground bar. (Click here to enlarge.)

Either way, the TVSS should be installed on a common insulated buss bar. This bar should be bonded to the pole or tower ground and grounded to the main grounding bar (MGB) in the building. The minimum recommended grounding conductor is AWG #4 copper, unless the distance between the pole ground bar and the MGB exceeds eight feet. Then it should be stepped up to an AWG #2 copper conductor. See Fig. 2.

Bringing It Inside

The common method when bringing cables into a studio or transmitter building is to use a bulkhead. This can be as simple as a sheet of nonflammable water-resistant material such as Hardie Panel sheeting or acrylic plastic.

In a metal building, this is mandatory. You do not want to penetrate a metal building where a cable can be in direct contact with the metal wall. That is begging for arc-over problems.

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The point where the cables enter the building is where you will place your primary or secondary TVSSes. The MGB should be placed as close as practical to this penetration, but no more than a couple of feet away.

Each TVSS should be connected to the MGB with its own grounding conductor. Never double up grounding conductors. The grounding conductors should be placed either right or left of the center of the MGB. The conductors should be swept in from above and not reversed below and upward where they connect to the MGB. The primary grounding conductor for the MGB should be connected at the center of the MGB.

The reason for connecting the main grounding conductor to the center of the MGB is to isolate incoming conductors that introduce surges on a regular basis (dirty) from the sensitive equipment (clean), which must also be connected to the MGB to be protected.

Fig. 3: This installation follows the PANI order, with surge Producers, Absorbers, Non-isolated and Isolated from the center main grounding bar out. (Click here to enlarge.)

The center MGB ground serves to provide this grounding isolation or PANI, an acronym describing a way of bonding conductors to the MGB in a specific order, depending on their origin: surge energy Producers, Absorbers, Non-isolated equipment and Isolated equipment (Fig. 3).

Power and Utilities

More commonly than not, the power, telco and CATV are not going to enter the building at the same location as the cabling off of the tower or pole, but they must also be protected, so let’s start with power.

Fig. 4: The watt-hour meter is a good place for additional TVSS protection. (Click here to enlarge.)

Your building will have a watt-hour meter, and it’s usually installed outside (Fig. 4). Even if it is a “smart meter,” it’s a simple device that allows your electric utility to vacuum funds out of your bank account and transfer them into the utilities bank account. However, that watt-hour meter can be used to your advantage.

There are devices known as meter-based TVSSes, which are sleeves that are installed by either a licensed electrician or the utility between the meter base and the meter. Some utilities will allow your electrician to do the work; others insist that you rent the TVSS from them for a small monthly fee. Either way, they are good protection for the cost. They are crude first-line devices that can take the brunt of a hit.

But don’t stop there. Always have a hard-wired TVSS installed as close as possible to the service entrance. Some will require a circuit breaker to be installed ahead of the TVSS to prevent a catastrophic burn-down of the TVSS should it go into a total failure after doing its job.

Fig. 5: Don’t skimp when buying TVSS devices! Get the best you can find. (Click here to enlarge.)

That breaker should be installed as close as possible to the main breaker in the service panel. If that requires moving breakers around to clear a double space, so be it. If the service panel is choked up with no spare spaces, drop in a sub-panel and unload other circuits to the sub-panel to make space for the TVSS breaker.

Do yourself a favor and don’t go cheap. Real TVSSes for power run anywhere from $400 to $2,500+, depending on the rating of your service entrance and if it is single phase or multiphase power (Fig. 5).

On the Inside

If you have a load center within your building, this is a great place to add a secondary panel buss TVSS. While not breaking the bank, most manufacturers of load centers offer TVSSes that simply slot in like a multipole breaker. Like a primary TVSS, they should be installed next to the feed to the panel. If needed, have your electrician relocate one or two breakers to clear up slots and you are good to go. See Fig. 6.

Moving down in voltage, we have telco, cable and CATV. These incoming services need to be protected as well.

Fig. 6: Panel-mounted TVSS devices are a great additional line of protection. (Click here to enlarge.)

Normally your telco provider will provide a network interface device (NID). Within it will be protectors, commonly gas-based protectors with a 400 VDC breakdown. As long as the NID is properly grounded and bonded to the building’s ground system, that provides good primary protection. Internally, you want to back that up with TVSSes rated for no more than 200 VDC for POTS phone lines. Special circuits, however, are a horse of a different color. Digital or audio circuits behind the telco’s mounting need to be protected by very low-voltage TVSSes, 50 VDC or less.

Commonly, cable and CATV will utilize a spark-gap protector, and like telco, it must be grounded and bonded to the building’s grounding system. However, a spark-gap protector is unsuitable in this application. Back it up with a reputable coaxial TVSS mounted to the dirty side of the MGB ahead of the distribution of the cable or CATV signal within the building.

Grounding and Bonding

Now, for a somewhat more complicated subject, grounding and bonding. It is extremely important that all connections to earth be bonded to each other. Lacking that bonding, surges entering your facility over various services connected to disparate earth connections will wreak havoc within your facility.

Grounding & Bonding Tips

• Always bond devices, racks, attachments, etc., swept toward the main grounding bar.
• Wire-brush paint from both sides of equipment mounting tabs where grounding connectors will be placed and the rack faces they will be mounted to, exposing bare metal.
• Most modern racks and rack-mounted equipment are aluminum-framed, therefore always use bimetallic connectors when bonding such equipment to copper grounding conductors.
• Always apply a thin coat of antioxidant such as NO-OX to the bare metal before assembly to ensure a long-lasting corrosion free connection.
• Always use compression connections and the proper crimping tools and dies or use exothermic welds. If a connection must be soldered, silver solder is required. No exceptions.
• Always tag the grounding connections at the MGB and subsystem ground bars. You may be the next person who has to work on the system, long after it was built, and memory may not serve to remind you what all these are.

An example would be if your facility was not built from the ground up as a broadcast facility. While the structure is wired to code, you later add something simple such as a DTV or other satellite dish.

That dish must have a clear view of the southern sky, but your electrical service and other utilities may enter a different side of the building, say the north side. Not a problem.

The contractor for the DTV provider or the dish installer installs the dish on the south side of the building’s roof, then runs the coax from the dish down and through a spark-gap protector, which is earthed to a ground rod he placed. That ground rod, however, is commonly not bonded to the building’s grounding system by the contractor.

Later, during a storm, lightning tickles that dish. The resulting energy saturates the unbonded ground rod and the remaining energy seeks out all other forms of an earth ground it can find. In the process, it passes through the connected receiver and then enters the building’s electrical system. From there it passes through and into any source of a ground to earth. This would include neutral, any electronic device with a three-wire cord, or grounded rack-mounted equipment. Sometimes lightning energy will find a ground just by arcing within the building’s wiring system and devices, destroying them in the process.

The solution to preventing such damage is to bond all connections to earth to each other with a minimum of an AWG #4 direct-buried copper conductor. This provides a low-resistance path from all grounding connections to earth, eliminating any differences in voltage potential between those connections.

Yes, all those connections may become saturated for a moment, and yes, there may be substantial rise in potential on all of them, but the bonds prevent any flow of energy through the protected equipment within the structure.

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