Industry News

This photo shows the lobby of facilities built in 2020 by Red Apple Media to serve iconic New York City station 77 WABC as well as wabcradio.TV, 107.1 WLIR Riverhead and Red Apple Audio Networks.

Dan Hirschl, vice president of engineering for Red Apple Media, shared this picture for Radio World’s new ebook about recent studio projects, but we thought the lobby photo was interesting on its own as well.

“The goal was to capture WABC through the years through traditional printed signage and video presentation,” said Dan Hirschl.

“Visitors to our floor need to know where they are from the moment they step off the elevator.”

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Ebooks Here]

Among people and events celebrated are iconic broadcasters Lowell Thomas and “Cousin Brucie” Morrow; the change in call letters from WJZ to WABC in 1953; the station’s dominance of the AM dial in the 1960s (“More people listen to WABC than to any other radio station in North America”); and its acquisition from Cumulus by businessman John Catsimatidis, finalized in 2020.

“The build included three news desks, two talk studios with associated control rooms, two production rooms, video control room and a TV studio/live performance area,” Hirschl said. “WABC needed to move from our legacy studios at 2 Penn Plaza not only because of the sale, but because of building-wide renovations and lease complications.”

The ebook “Spectacular Radio Studios” includes projects by other leading broadcasters including Educational Media Foundation, Audacy, Cumulus, Nashville Public Radio, Hubbard Media, CBC/Radio-Canada and numerous others. You can access it free at radioworld.com/ebooks.

The post WABC Lobby Offers a Nod to History appeared first on Radio World.

“I could not be happier to be kicking off the first earnings call for TelevisaUnivision,” CEO Wade Davis said as he began the earnings review for the U.S.-focused component of a reinvented multinational operation that is now the biggest in the world serving Spanish speakers.

How did Univision Communications perform in the final three months of 2021?

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Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane will moderate a session next month in the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society Pulse series, focused on the changing nature of radio’s presence in car dashboards.

The BTS Pulse sessions are virtual; the upcoming series takes place March 8–10.

“Radio’s New Dashboard Technologies” is a two-hour session on Wednesday March 9 that explores changes in how broadcast radio looks and functions in vehicle dashboards. What technologies are driving these changes, and what should broadcast radio engineers and managers know about them?

Speakers will include David Layer of NAB PILOT; Joe D’Angelo of Xperi; Ben Poor of the European Broadcasting Union; and Joe Harb of Quu Inc.

Another session that week will focus on global digital radio and will be moderated by Glynn Walden, while a third on will address virtualization and cybersecurity, moderated by Wayne Pecena.

Registration is open.

The BTS says attendees have the opportunity to earn multiple Continuing Education Credits or Professional Development Hours.

The post BTS Pulse Focuses on Dashboard Technologies appeared first on Radio World.

The licensee of a religious broadcast TV station serving Toledo, Ohio, has been given the OK to move its digital broadcast signal from a VHF channel to a more powerful UHF channel.

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Iconic all-news station WINS(AM) in New York was chosen by the Academy of Radio Arts and Sciences of America to receive the 2022 World Radio Day Award.

“1010 WINS” is famous as the station that launched a groundbreaking all-news format in 1965. Today it is owned by Audacy.

The honor commemorates World Radio Day, established by UNESCO and celebrated annually on Feb. 13.

This is the third annual award given to a U.S. radio station; last year’s recipient was WHRU at Hofstra University on Long Island, and the first was all-news station WTOP in Washington.

The award honors a U.S. station that exemplifies the best attributes of the radio industry. Recipients may be large or small, commercial or noncommercial, located in any market, and broadcasting in any language. The jury looks for stations that demonstrate ideals of localism, audience reach, community service, effective use of new digital platforms, diversity in program content and staffing, and financial and ratings success.

Jurors included representatives of trade publications, including Radio World; broadcast law firms; consultants; and the New Jersey Broadcasters Association.

The post WINS Honored With World Radio Day Award appeared first on Radio World.

The association for companies that work on the U.S. communications infrastructure has set a new record.

NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association said it now has 1,100 member companies.

It made the announcement at the NATE UNITE 2022 Conference in Las Vegas.

The association also announced that board members Jimmy Miller, Victor Drouin and Kevin Dougherty were elected to serve on its executive committee. Miller, president and CEO of MILLERCO in Gulfport, Miss., was re-elected as chairman of the board.

Member Services Coordinator Jill Rethke attributed the growth to “the association’s commitment to investing into strategic initiatives and benefits that directly support our membership.” The organization also has added staff positions in government relations, safety, health, compliance and marketing.

NATE members include tower construction firms, general contractors, vertical real estate companies, wireless carriers, engineering and technology companies, public safety and non-profit organizations, design professionals, manufacturers, distributors and training companies.

The post NATE Sets Membership Record appeared first on Radio World.

It’s an unbuilt FM radio station licensed to a municipality right on the Pennsylvania/New York state line, with Lake Erie to its west.

Who’ll get to construct it? Not the company that had the winning bid in Auction 109 to put the facility on the air. That task, pending FCC approval, will go to growing broadcast ministry Family Life.

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Nexstar Media Group’s three C-Suite leaders — Chairman/CEO Perry Sook, President/COO Tom Carter and CFO Lee Ann Gliha — on Wednesday shared all of the details of the company’s Q4 and full-year 2021 earnings results in a conference call for financial analysts and shareholders.

The trio of executives offered commentary on the company’s health, including what ad categories performed well — and didn’t. There’s also intelligence on retransmission consent revenue, with Dan Kurnos of Benchmark Co. asking for more on the subject.

With Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo Securities also participating in the Q&A session, we offer this edited audio review of the earnings call in this RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast.Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Nexstar's Q4 2021 Earnings Call” on Spreaker.

Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on products for radio remotes and sports.

John Dinse and BJ DeGroot are ready to provide live courtside coverage.

WSCO(AM), a Wisconsin station that is part of the Woodward Radio Group, serves sports and talk programming to an audience that stretches from Green Bay to Oshkosh.

As part of its sports coverage, the station produces live play-by-play for Wisconsin major league, minor league, college and high school sports, as well as a sports morning show called “BJ and the Bear.” WSCO covers every game live for the Wisconsin Herd, the NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks.

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In its search for a way to send audio from the arena back to the station, WSCO became familiar with ACCESS 2USB, a portable IP audio codec from Comrex that’s no longer available for purchase.

When Comrex released its latest model, WSCO decided to purchase a new ACCESS NX for courtside coverage of the Herd.

The station often uses a hard-wired internet connection, and intends to implement NX’s portable capabilities for live broadcasts of road games in the coming season. ACCESS NX’s attachable mixer allows them to feed in arena sound as well as maintain a private two-way connection with a producer at the studio.

The Comrex ACCESS NX

BJ DeGroot, assistant brand manager for WSCO/WHBY and co-host of “BJ and the Bear,” told Comrex, “It’s functional and reliable, and it’s changed the game for our live play-by-play broadcasting. As far as quality standpoint and ease of use is concerned, we have been so happy. If you’re looking to take your station to the next level, it’s the way to go.”

Info: http://comrex.com or email info@comrex.com.

The post ACCESS NX Changes the Game for WSCO appeared first on Radio World.

“The picture is bleak.”

That’s the assessment from IABM, which published results of its electronic components supply survey of global media technology companies.

The association said lead times are lengthening and component prices are rising significantly since its last survey nine months ago.

“Respondents also sounded the alarm on their financial positions if component supply problems persist for a further 12 months; there are very few signs that the situation will improve in the short-to-medium term,” it wrote.

STMicroelectronics IC microchips designed by ARM Ltd. in a storage tray at CSI Electronic Manufacturing Services Ltd. in April. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

IABM is a trade association for broadcast and media technology. [See a list of IABM member companies.]

It said 97% of technology vendors reported being significantly affected by component shortages, with 63% saying they are severely affected, up from 40% last April.

“The survey finds that lead times for components have increased by an average of 74% and component costs by 44%, resulting in a 26% impact on final product costs.”

[Previously: “Chip Shortage Hits Radio Technology Marketplace”]

The association expressed concern that 86% of respondents “reported facing moderate or severe impact on their financial sustainability if the issues persist for another 12 months.”

CEO Peter White said in the announcement, “With no early prospect of the component shortage problem being resolved, many media tech companies have responded by redesigning their products to mitigate issues with sourcing specific components, and/or stockpiling components where possible to keep their production lines flowing in the face of dramatically increased lead times.”

He also cited evidence of component price increases “which will either need to be absorbed by media tech suppliers or will feed through into increased end-product prices.”

The association recently launched a service that allows companies to list their excess stock; members experiencing shortages can use it to find supplies. “I have been surprised that not many companies have taken advantage of the BaM Stock Exchange so far; perhaps this is the moment for them to do so,” White said in the release.

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