Industry News

Regarding Larry Langford’s commentary “Sweeten the Pot to Entice AM Digital”:

My initial concern is what a 100% digital signal will do to co-channel and first-adjacent stations who are operating in analog with listeners in the fringe. Should these analog AM stations be given compensation for the loss of coverage? Should they be given companion channels of operation to replace lost coverage?

I still recall a rather contentious debate in a broadcast list some decade or more ago. The CE of a Class 1B station was bragging about his IBOC, while some people were complaining about how it chewed up analog stations some 100 to 400 miles away at night. The fellow justified the use of power and propagation as being “necessary to cover the station’s market area, roughly 45 miles in radius.”

So to cover a 45-mile radius of market, we have to ruin a 400-mile radius of spectrum? Isn’t this like playing your 250-watt stereo at full volume in an apartment complex because you’re deaf and unconcerned that it’s bothering the neighbors?

I still think that in the scope of protecting what we have and need for public service, the FCC should revise the frequency tables, using the recent incentive auction as a model.

Move TV broadcasters out of Channels 5 and 6. Allot that spectrum to digital radio broadcasters with a caveat that after five years on the air, they surrender their analog service. Mandate that all new radios (especially mobile) be outfitted with the new DM band. And since most 1A/1B broadcasters see no financial value in long-distance transmission, cap all transmissions to provide a 45-mile radius.

Working the math, you could get all the wannabe digital stations into the new band, and over time analog would pass. However it won’t be killed off by those wanting digital more than the need of listeners wanting analog.

Radio World welcomes letters to the editor to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Letter: Rethink the Radio Bands appeared first on Radio World.

We seem to be headed down two tracks on our way to the broadcast facility of the future.

One is the appliance track, where we are migrating away from the model of apps running on a Windows PC and moving functions instead onto one dedicated appliance that isn’t subject to the finicky PC. 

These are generally specialized AoIP or automation appliances that are Linux-based and therefore do not require Windows drivers, updates or PCs. Good examples are streaming appliances like Streamblade or Wheatstream that replace multiple PCs by putting everything streaming related into one AoIP Linux appliance. 

The other is the app track, which takes us to the cloud and away from hardware in the rack room. 

Here, we are offloading functions to the cloud where they can be remotely reconfigured, maintained and provisioned on a case-by-case basis. At its most ideal, centralized cloud-based applications will give us the ability to dial up encoding, IFB, routing, mixing, playback and even the kind of console needed for a given show or operator skill level. 

Wheatstone, Xperi and other broadcast product makers are working on cloud-based apps using cloud technologies such as container platforms like Docker that will make it possible to transition from the entirely fixed-location studio to a more virtual operation.

Already, many of these apps exist. We know of broadcasters who are containing audio drivers in a virtual machine onsite in preparation of eventually offloading that part of their operation to the cloud and others who are putting multiple studio workflows from multiple locations in a one-stop virtual interface.

Moving it all to the cloud can downsize space requirements in the rack room and shift engineering management to an offsite provider. Eliminating any piece of gear in the air chain along with its connectors and potential points of failure is a good thing, and that goes for specialized appliances too, because these can replace more generic PC-based functions and also reduce space requirements and engineering management.

There are advantages and disadvantages of both the cloud-based app model and the appliance model. 

Offloading functions to Microsoft, Amazon or other cloud provider takes away the cost and upkeep of hardware in the rack room but leaves you subject to third-party vulnerabilities. On the other track, having an appliance onsite gives you some of the consolidation benefits of an all-in-one rack unit similar to the cloud model, although at the additional expense of on-premise infrastructure and upkeep.

It doesn’t have to be one way or another, fortunately. There are many different ways to divide and subdivide that signal chain between functions in the cloud and functions onsite in an appliance.

For example, it’s possible to have automation and mixing functions in the cloud but maintain control from a local virtual or hardware interface. If your playback is being done mostly off a cloud server, you might have a virtual control surface in the studio that is talking to a mix engine in the cloud. Similarly, you could also be receiving your mic audio from a codec that’s in the cloud.

More likely, the broadcast facility of the future will use a combination of both: appliances for consolidating functions into a single 1RU box that eliminates a bank of Windows PCs yet the use of cloud for shared mixing, routing or removes streaming and automation without the real estate, upkeep and of the Windows PC. 

We’ll likely arrive at the future broadcast facility from both tracks, and not entirely from one or the other.

The post Appliance? or Cloud-based App?  appeared first on Radio World.

TUDN Radio, the rebranded and retooled service formerly known as Univision Deportes Radio, is about to get a serious boost in one of America’s most important Hispanic media markets.

Univision Communications‘ Houston station group is flipping the switch on Monday to bring Houstonians “the market’s only Spanish-language sports radio station.”

With ESPN Deportes Radio now defunct, aside from a couple of podcasts; Fox Deportes Radio relatively quiet; and Unanimo Sports still seeking maximization of its offerings, sales could be a challenge for a Deportes-minded radio station.

For Univision, flipping KQBU-FM 93.3 to “TUDN 93.3 FM/1010 AM” is an opportunity for growth while maintaining the current programming in the market. As of today, KQBU is a simulcast partner of KAMA-FM 104.9, a Spanish Contemporary station branded as “Latino Mix.”

KAMA, a Class C2 FM licensed to Deer Park, Tex., will stay as “Latino Mix”; the station’s signal contour makes it a full Houston-market FM.

KQBU is really a Beaumont-Port Arthur station. Its 97kw Class C signal puts city-grade coverage over Houston’s east side. In the car, it’s audible across the metropolitan area.

As “TUDN,” KQBU will now simulcast Class B KLAT-AM 1010 in Houston. It’s already a TUDN-branded station. Hence, KQBU is switching simulcast partners.

For locals, programming will include Spanish-language coverage of the Astros (MLB), Houston Dynamo (MLS), Houston Rockets (NBA), and Texas A&M Aggie football. There are also simulcasts from TUDN Radio’s soccer portfolio.

Local programming includes a 10am-noon Central program hosted by Cesar Procel (pictured, top left), “Encanchados.”

KQBU-FM has been the home of “Latino Mix” since its December 2017 arrival in the market. Previously, it was “Qué Buena,” offering regional Mexican programming.

Jessica Rosenworcel wants members of a key advisory group to help the FCC “sort through some of the toughest security problems facing our country’s communications networks.”

The acting chairwoman recently reconstituted the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council, seeking to “revitalize” it. And on Wednesday she spoke to the group to lay out her vision for its work.

She opened her remarks by citing a litany of recent notable cybersecurity events: a wireless carrier in the Netherlands whose traffic was susceptible to monitoring; a security breach of Exchange software that left bank, health and government servers vulnerable; the SolarWinds Breach that allowed hackers affiliated with the Russian government to access government and private networks undetected; the theft of data on millions of T-Mobile customers; and the ransomware attack on an Iowa farming co-op this month.

“This needs our attention because enough is enough,” Rosenworcel told the CSRIC members.

[Related: Rosenworcel Names Members to Revamped Advisory Group]

She said the FCC is pursuing a multipronged strategy to assure security as the use of 5G expands.

“In this environment, rechartering CSRIC was a no-brainer. This council is one of the nation’s most impactful cybersecurity partnerships. But we didn’t want to do it same-old, same-old. We wanted to make it better.”

She explained that for the first time the group will be co-chaired by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which leads a national effort to enhance the safety of the cybersecurity and communications infrastructure. “Earlier this year, CISA co-authored a leading report on potential threat vectors to 5G infrastructure. Their partnership here will help ensure a unity of effort between those responsible for protecting the country and those who own and operate the infrastructure that is so critical to that mission.”

She said the group also will reflect more participation from the public interest community. “The public and consumers also will have a voice on issues that ultimately affect their safety and security along with private sector stakeholders.”

The group is to prioritize 5G.

“That means we have a working group to explore the security and resiliency of Open RAN. We have a working group looking at more broadly leveraging virtualization technology to enhance network security. We have a working group looking at the technical issues involving the security of 5G signaling protocols. And building on CSRIC’s earlier work to remove untrusted hardware from our communications and infrastructure and building on lessons learned from the SolarWinds hack, we have a working group looking at the software side of supply chain security.”

Rosenworcel noted that Hurricane Ida knocked cell sites offline in Louisiana, so she wants the group also to make progress on the resiliency of communications networks. “We’ve got a working group to look at improving 911 — specifically 911 service over Wi-Fi. And we have yet another working group that will be looking at ways to improve Wireless Emergency Alerts.”

[Related: Marketron and Its Users Slammed by Cyber Event]

She called this “a to-do list of security challenges that we already know about,” and she asked the members of the group to be “on the lookout for threats that are just around the bend.”

Sectors represented on the group include local emergency officials, transportation, wireless and broadband companies, consumer electronics manufacturers, chip makers, public broadcasting and government agencies.

The post Rosenworcel Gives CSRIC Its New Charge appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC on Friday confirmed that it will begin accepting applications from graduating law students and current judicial clerks for its Fall 2022 Attorney Honors Program.

The application window is now open, and it closes on November 1.

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In the Dallas-Fort Worth market, ViacomCBS owns and operates two broadcast TV stations, in addition to CBSN Dallas and CBSDFW.com.

As of Monday, these properties will have a new leader, and it is someone who is rejoining the stations after four years working across town — at TV stations broadcasting en español.

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Cumulus Media isn’t the only audio content and distribution company with a big stable of radio stations that enjoyed a strong week on Wall Street.

As Wall Street neared its closing bells, Audacy shares were on the rise, giving the company formerly known as Entercom its strongest stock price since early August.

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MIAMI — Tune to 99.1 MHz in morning drive, and you’ll suddenly find yourself asking if something isn’t right. Just weeks ago, a big billboard could be seen on Interstate 95 heading downtown promoting the Trina & Trick Daddy morning program.

As of today, the hosts are no longer a part of Cox Media Group. But, that’s just a small part of a Reduction in Force initiative that has claimed a host of programming and on-air positions. Meanwhile, another Miami FM owned by CMG has tweaked its format while apparently dismissing its entire air staff.

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With Monday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, Cumulus Media shares officially erased five months of growth, negating a climb to $14.75 seen at the end of June — its highest value since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Who knew that the rest of this week would see Cumulus crush it on the Nasdaq?

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With Meredith Local Media poised to become a part of Gray Television by the end of the year, parent Meredith Corp. is apparently in serious conversations with the digital media company owned by Barry Diller to engineer a deal that would spin the majority of its lifestyle and female-friendly assets in a multi-billion deal.

Investors reacted by snapping up Meredith shares, leading to a sharp rise in value in Friday’s trading.

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