Industry News

What should console buyers know before shopping these days?

Eric Hoppe is owner of Progressive Concepts and head of sales and marketing for master distribution of D&R products in the United States. This is one in a series of interviews with industry console experts. An earlier version of this article appeared in the RW ebook “Trends in Consoles.”

Radio World: What is the biggest trend in console design?

Eric Hoppe: Today’s consoles have most of the features customers are looking for. The only trend I could possibly see is the need for more network sharing in larger studios. The D&R consoles we handle are for small to mid-size studios that mostly use stand-alone broadcast mixers. For this reason D&R mixers include integration with music playout software very elegantly.

RW: What demands do you hear from potential buyers?

Hoppe: These days, most music content comes from playout software rather than tapes, vinyl or CDs (though there are still a good number of studios using these other mediums). For that reason, D&R has implemented a USB interface for audio communication in all of their mixers while maintaining both analog and digital ports for interfacing with legacy types of equipment.

[Related: “Progressive Concepts Takes on RVR”]

RW: What role does the console play now when someone is planning a new studio?

Hoppe: Today, the mixing console is still the centerpiece of the studio’s operation and thus needs to be very easy to understand and use, because not all studios today employ professional DJs.

RW: What functions and features are being offered on new models that engineers who haven’t bought a console in a while should know about?

Hoppe: They should ask themselves, “What do I really need to make my radio program work?” and not select a console with too many gadgets or features as to complicate its function. Progressive Concepts is very good at helping the client find the right board for their needs.

RW: What will the console of the future look like, if we use one at all?

Hoppe: Generally speaking, DJs still want to use hardware with physical faders to control their content. Some products have the entire control surface on a touchscreen monitor, which I believe is getting a little far removed from the feel of an actual mechanical fader.

RW: How vibrant is the marketplace for analog consoles? 

Hoppe: I believe there is still a market for analog only mixers; however, D&R consoles and mixers include a hybrid design of digitally controlled analog audio mixers that provides tremendous value in terms of sound quality and reliability for their price point.

RW: Any suggested best practices for someone who is setting out to make a console system buying decision? 

Hoppe: Seek out a supplier who can help you find a mixer or console that fits your needs and who provides friendly service to help you set up your console.

The post Buying a Console? Focus on What You Really Need appeared first on Radio World.

This is part of Radio World’s series exploring trends in radio broadcast consoles.

Jay Tyler is director of sales for Wheatstone Corp. An earlier version of this article appeared in the RW ebook “Trends in Consoles.”

Radio World: What’s notable in how consoles are designed today?

Jay Tyler: They have become “softer.” We still have a physical control surface, with knobs and metering and faders, [but] the actual functions of those buttons have changed.

Where we would normally have a Program button, there might be a Program All or that might be a programmable button to not only put that channel on-air in Program, but it might start a skimmer, it may cue up other microphones in the talk studio.

The physical consoles we’re using are becoming more flexible and more user-defined, rather than manufacturer-designed like their analog counterparts.

A perfect example is Townsquare Media. Traditionally it had been an AoIP customer buying traditional control surfaces that acted like their analog counterparts, as far as the user goes. Well, we’ve done [projects in] Lafayette, La.; Lufkin, Texas — and now Duluth, Minn., where we’re rolling out eight control rooms — with what we call Glass LXE. This is our console that’s not running on Wheatstone surface hardware. It’s talking to a Wheatstone Mix Engine but it’s running on third-party hardware, whether it’s an all-in-one PC or a fancy touchscreen.

Ultimately, that’s where a lot of people are leaning — to save money and to break into the next level, and maybe make that control room look futuristic.

RW: How does virtualization apply to this conversation?

Tyler: In Wheatstone’s world, when you’re virtualizing something you’re running many instances of software. That could be our mixing console, that could be our applications, or that could be our drivers. We consider that at the local level.

So when you hear virtualization, automatically we think, “Okay, we’re going to consolidate PCs and everything we have here locally.” We’re going to virtualize the console. That means it’s going to go on a hard drive somewhere, and it’s going to have a touchscreen interface. When we virtualize studios, this means we’re consolidating our resource locally.

You’re going to hear another term called centralization. Centralization and virtualization go together. This means we’ve got our audio located in one spot in the country, usually on-site at somebody’s property within the organization; and then we’re polling and we’re distributing music.

[Related: “Virtualization and Cloud Come to the Forefront”]

Virtualization is just a consolidation at the radio station. Automation manufacturers were the first ones to virtualize their systems. They didn’t put it in a cloud; they basically put it on a big server with redundant drives and all the security you could ask for.

The other side of virtualization is what we think of as cloud-based services. Everybody wants to save money, we get it; everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon and use Amazon and Google Cloud, etc. People are looking at it, we’ve had discussions with customers about it.

One of the biggest obstacles we’re going to have to overcome is latency. If you were to take all the “stuff” we have in the studio now and put it in the cloud, all of your microphone audio has to go up. Everybody’s microphone would have to go up; arrive at the same time; be mixed; and then be sent back to us at the local market.

We see the automation guys leaning more towards cloud-based services and cloud-based delivery, because latency isn’t such a big deal. I think what you’re going to see initially as an end result is a combination of maybe a virtual studio with a cloud-based automation system being streamed down.

RW: How vibrant is the marketplace for a traditional analog console? 

Tyler: You can quote me on this: We sell a lot of analog consoles.

If you’re a small studio and more than 50% of your sources are analog, it makes perfect sense for you to buy an analog console, especially if your transmission chain is analog. At a typical small mom-and-pop station, we’re going to have a couple of analog microphones, an analog telephone hybrid, a couple of channels with automation. We’re probably going to have a consumer CD player.

There’s still nothing wrong with the analog mix engine. In our Audioarts lineup we currently have the 08, the AIR-1, the AIR-4 and the Lightning — from small to bigger mid-market analog offerings.

Some of the advantages of analog? Guys can fix it. People feel comfortable with it. There’s no laptop, no software, no licensing — you own it. When you get an analog console, you’re not going to get an upgrade, it’s just going to do what it does.

How long will analog be around? As long as your analog power amplifier! People can always fix them, you can always get the parts for them. Unless [you have] power supply issues or you’ve spilled something in it, they tend to work.

Wheatstone still services every single analog console we’ve ever sold. That goes back to our recording days.

RW: Other thoughts?

Tyler: If you’re an analog guy and feel comfortable buying analog, all of us manufacturers still do some cool interfaces with the analog. We’ve given you Bluetooth interfaces, we’ve got analog consoles with USB I/O. You can still get some of the advantages of the digital boards out there by picking the right stuff.

RW: But those digital boards sure are pretty powerful.

Tyler: You can control them from anywhere in the world. Most of the digital boards are going to give us a remote interface; so instead of the engineer in Ithaca, N.Y., driving to the radio station in the snow to hit the program button on the monitor module for the jock, they can open up their laptop, log in and soft-select a monitor module and go back to sleep.

Because the digital stuff becomes more technical, it also allows you the benefits of factory support services that all of us offer. With digital we can remote in and do a lot of stuff. We can configure things, we can troubleshoot, and we can do online training. There are big advantages there.

The post Consoles Get “Softer” and More Powerful appeared first on Radio World.

Tom Churchill, a developer of automated weather software used in the radio business, has died.

According to his friend and colleague Larry Fuss of Delta Radio in Mississippi, Churchill was 59 and died at home in the Dominican Republic.

Among Churchill’s offerings was Digital Weatherman, which allowed stations to sell weather sponsorships and interfaced with station automation systems.

A bio on the Virtual Weatherman website states that Churchill was a native of Dubuque, Iowa, where he started in radio as a weatherman at WDBQ at age of 13 in 1974. Other articles online about his career stated that in the 1970s Churchill appeared on the “Tomorrow Show” with Tom Snyder and also won $16,000 on a TV game show.

“Tom worked for Channel 10 Television in Dubuque for several years as well as making guest appearances and regular on-air weathercasting duties on PBS, NBC, CBS and ABC from 1974 to 1983,” the Virtual Weatherman bio page continues, noting that Churchill’s forecasting acumen also was featured in national magazines.

“In 1979, Tom formed his first weather forecasting company providing live weathercasts to radio stations across the country. The Digital Weatherman system was developed in the late 1980s to extend his weather forecasting capabilities to hundreds of radio stations through the use of computer technology.”

According to a Wikipedia page about him, the PC-based system contains thousands of small audio cuts about weather conditions that could be merged into a customized forecast.

The Wikipedia account states that Churchill also provided forecasting services to a number of Hollywood movie productions filmed in and around the Dubuque area.

Broadcaster Larry Fuss was a sales agent for Churchill’s service for many years; Churchill in turn did engineering and IT work for Fuss at Delta’s radio stations in Greenville, Miss. “His weather service is still running and we are trying to figure out how we can keep it going,” Fuss told Radio World Monday. “However, much of the inner workings of Tom’s software was in his head. … I’m afraid much of his genius will be lost.”

Churchill had a BS in atmospheric physics and a minor in astronomy, according to the Virtual Weatherman site, which said he moved to the Caribbean in 2001.

Fuss said the family plans a memorial service for Churchill at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Davenport, Iowa on Wednesday.

The post Tom Churchill Dies, Was Weather Software Developer appeared first on Radio World.

A Colorado low-power FM radio station faces a $15,000 fine in a case involving the FCC’s underwriting rules.

The rules regarding underwriting must be closely followed by low-power FMs, as the Federal Communications Commission pointed out in a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture released on July 2. Noncommercial educational (NCE) stations provide a unique service by allowing the public to enjoy a radio service that is both commercial-free and oriented to the local community, it said. NCE and LPFM stations are given special regulatory considerations such as reserved spectrum, fewer regulatory requirements and exemption from annual regulatory fees.

[Read: “Arizona LPFM Can Continue Broadcasting”]

And although these stations can identify contributors who provide financial support, they cannot go further and promote a contributor’s products, services or businesses. According to the commission, strong enforcement of these restrictions “preserves the unique nature of low-power FM stations by keeping them commercial-free.” But it also provides a level playing field for noncommercial broadcasters who obey the rules, and for commercial broadcasters that assume higher levels of regulatory and financial burdens in exchange for being permitted to sell commercial advertising on their stations.

The rules were allegedly not followed by Plymouth Gathering Inc., licensee of LPFM station KELS in Greeley, Colo. The Enforcement Bureau finds that KELS violated the rule for noncommercial educational stations on multiple occasions. Specifically, it said that over a three-month period in 2018, Plymouth aired more than 1,600 advertisements on KELS promoting the products, services or businesses of at least 14 financial contributors.

The commission received multiple complaints about KELS — going back to 2015 — alleging that the station was airing ads and operating the station as a commercial entity. Following a review of the complaints, the Colorado field office investigated and monitored the station, going so far as to record a segment of station programming that appeared to include commercial announcements for 14 underwriters.

The FCC says that after the Enforcement Bureau reached out to Plymouth about these matters in December 2018, the station acknowledged that it did broadcast 13 announcements more than 1,600 times over a three-month period in late 2018, but asserted that it did not maintain records concerning the broadcast dates, times or text of the announcements. The station also acknowledged that it set up contracts with the 13 for-profit entities to air announcements for monetary gain. After review, the Colorado field office found one additional commercial announcement, pushing the illegal commercial announcements to 14 advertisers in total.

As part of its notice, the FCC described the ways that the broadcasts violated FCC law, including announcements that compare products or services, announcements that use pricing language to do business and announcements that were greater than 30 seconds in length — all of which violate FCC rules as well as the Communications Act.

When it comes to penalties and forfeitures, FCC rules set a base forfeiture of $2,000 for each violation of its enhanced underwriting requirements but the amount can go as high as $51,222 per violation.

Weighing the period of time over which the announcements were aired, the number of announcements and its actions in other underwriting cases, the commission found that the station is apparently liable for a forfeiture of $15,000.

Plymouth has 30 days to pay or to file a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation.

The post LPFM Handed $15,000 Penalty After Allegedly Promoting 14 Businesses On Air appeared first on Radio World.

From our Who’s Buying What page: Targetspot said it won a three-year contract with Radio France and France Médias Monde to market their digital audio ad spots.

Its parent company AudioValley said Radio awarded Targetspot rights to the commercialization of its podcasts AOD (audio on demand) and France Médias Monde live flows.

[Read: Stingray Partners With Targetspot]

“The first lot covers direct sales of the digital advertising spots on podcasts and AOD. The second lot covers programmatic sales and high-tech solutions (adserving, service trafficking, targeting),” the company stated.

France Médias Monde handles French international broadcasting and includes the news channels France 24, the international radio station RFI and the Arabic-language station Monte Carlo Doualiya.

Targetspot will handle direct and programmatic sales of all digital audio content for Radio France and France Médias Monde, in France and internationally. The contract began July 1.

The post Targetspot Wins Digital Audio Sales Bid with Radio France appeared first on Radio World.

What should buyers of radio broadcast consoles know about important trends?

Marty Sacks is vice president of sales, support and marketing for the Telos Alliance. This is one in a series of interviews with industry console experts. An earlier version of this article appeared in the RW ebook “Trends in Consoles.”

RW: Marty what’s the most important trend in console design?

Marty Sacks: Today, consoles can do anything and everything the broadcaster wants and needs. It’s empowering. Just like a playlist, users can create new experiences for different operators with different styles, allowing creativity to float to the top, not buried by technical complexity. There is a trend towards power and technical sophistication hiding under the surface so to speak; but ultimately, users want more application-specific controls and dialed-in user experiences.

Our new Axia Quasar AoIP console, for example, was designed based on user and ergonomic studies, and has customizable features like new Source profiles, automatic mix-minus and automixing an all channels. Metering is built into the surface right wherever the user needs it, on every channel display, next to each fader, and the monitor module. Users can customize their Quasar via user-assignable buttons in the master touchscreen module and every channel strip. The trend in console design is that the user is king.

RW: It has been 16 years since Axia began offering professional radio gear that networks using Ethernet. What requests do you hear now from buyers that are different since then?

Sacks: In most cases, our customers are looking to us as their guide. Sure, there is the occasional feature request and we’ve done studies on usability; but for the most part, they allow us to set the tone for what to expect. We accomplish this role as their guide by removing obstacles in their way and giving them a multitude of tools. Our customers believe in the Telos Alliance because the tool — be it a sophisticated desktop console, a hybrid console/tablet, or a completely virtual model — is their choice. Their request is simple: Tell me I have no limitations of format and  protocols and let me configure the console any way I want.

Our new iQx console is a good example of this. Nobody requested a standalone mixer than can drop onto AES67 networks with no external boxes or software and immediately begin working. We thought the market needed the option so we created it, and it has been very well received.

Another example is a driven by clients operating during the recent pandemic. There has been quite a lot of interest in our clients remotely operating their Axia consoles and other components of their Telos Alliance AoIP network while outside the broadcast facility. That was not a request in the early days yet is something that is happening a lot right now. We had already built this functionality into most of our gear — for many years now — so we were happy to be able to say yes to this very important request when it came up.

RW: What functions or features are offered that engineers who haven’t bought a console in a while should know about?

Sacks: We were all trained to think of consoles as standalone devices at the center of a studio. While this can certainly still be the case, there is so much more to consider. Now, it’s not the console that matters most. Thanks to AoIP, it’s the ecosystem. Our consoles can now communicate with cloud/virtual stream sources, have built-in talk show support, and configurations for our Telos Infinity IP Intercom brought to you by Axia Pathfinder control.

AoIP consoles can stand alone or be easily networked together to allow sharing of sources and automatic switching between the various operational modes (or call letters) a cluster might have, like live shows and voice-tracking during other time periods when the console is no longer needed. If you have one building running two stations with different call letters, one console is all you need, because you can set it up how you want. Again, the user has more options than ever thanks to the flexibility of AoIP networks.

RW: What’s an example of a notable recent installation?

Sacks: Legendary Los Angeles station KCRW 89.9 FM recently completed its $38 million headquarters at Santa Monica College’s Center for Media and Design. It was more than a decade in the making. The headquarters features 11 audio over IP studios that speak to the power of the networked ecosystem.

KCRW Chief Engineer Steve Herbert and broadcast IT engineer Jon Connolly worked with Key Code Media’s Edward Locke, Axia specialist Gregory Dahl, Telos Alliance’s John Bisset  and Broadcast General Store to specify and set up a powerful, interoperable Livewire network with 12 Axia Fusion AoIP consoles, several Telos Alliance xNodes, Axia IP-Tablets and Axia Pathfinder Core Pro control. Each of the 85+ KCRW employee workstations and audio consoles are networked for sharing and collaboration. It’s a beautiful example of the power of the ecosystem.

RW: Any best practices or errors to avoid, for buyers?

Sacks: Those in the market for a console need to know that they are buying way more than a console. They are buying a company. What does that company offer that will help the customer realize all their audio hopes and dreams and create the most exciting audio experiences imaginable for their audience? At Telos, our goal is to be the Yoda to our broadcasting Jedi Knights. We want to help them along with our 115+ Livewire partners, on their audio journeys in an endeavor that does not stop after the business transaction of buying a console is complete. We will of course support and service the product, but will also be there as the customer’s needs grow and evolve. Since consoles now have a software component, it’s also more important now than ever to choose a manufacturer that is stable and is going to be around for the foreseeable future.

The post  “The User Is King” With Today’s Consoles appeared first on Radio World.

Broadcast business software developer Marketron has released NXT, a digital advertising management platform.

The company says that NXT was built specifically for radio business usage. It can manage radio station broadcast and digital campaigns.

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

Marketron CEO Jim Howard said, “The radio industry is in a period of rapid transition, and we are here to enable our industry to successfully bridge to the new future … With Marketron NXT, we have leveraged our deep knowledge in radio and digital advertising to create an offering that will bring the same success to radio groups of all sizes.”

Marketron says that NXT “consolidates all major digital categories into a single system that includes capabilities for proposal creation, order entry, execution of radio and digital, campaign reports and invoicing.” In addition it offers “easy-to-use proposal creation tool that gives broadcast sales representatives access to premium, third-party digital inventory. Within a single platform, sales teams are able to package all products and multiple tactics — air time, third-party digital display ads, non-spot revenue, O&O digital, sponsorships and more — into a single proposal with consolidated order entry, full invoicing and reporting.”

Marketron Senior Vice President of Product Jimshade Chaudhari said, “With the ability to create professional proposals in minutes and then show digital campaign ROI through detailed reporting, sales teams can demonstrate additional value to advertisers and increase the likelihood of renewals. Automatic creation of insertion orders reduces time and the potential for error, and Marketron NXT’s end-to-end workflow makes it easy for business offices to track invoices, payments and margins,”

Info: www.marketron.com

The post Marketron NXT Aims at Revenue appeared first on Radio World.

iHeartMedia San Diego said it has completed the acquisition of KFMB(AM) from Local Media San Diego; and as of today the station, heard on 760 kHz, has changed its call letters to KGB(AM).

“As part of terms of sale, TEGNA Inc. retained ownership of the KFMB(AM) call letters, which required iHeartMedia to make the change,” iHeart stated in an announcement.

“The Federal Communications Commission has approved the use of new call letters KGB for AM 760.”

[Related: “San Diego Stations Hit by Wave of Firings and Potential Job Cuts,” Jan. 2020]

It quoted Market President Melissa Forrest noting that the KGB call letters are legendary in San Diego. The company already uses them on an FM signal in the market.

The AM format is talk; iHeartMedia began operating KFMB under a local marketing agreement in March.

iHeartMedia San Diego’s holdings now are KGB(AM), KGB(FM), KHTS(FM), KIOZ(FM), KLSD(AM), KMYI(FM), KOGO(AM) and KSSX(FM).

[Read about the earliest history of the KGB call letters in this 1980 history article.]

The post KBG Call Letters Return to San Diego AM Dial appeared first on Radio World.

The author is membership program director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

Nationwide Black Lives Matter protests and police misconduct have hastened new conversations about race relations, from the White House to the boardroom to the control room. More media makers, including prominent organizations, are pledging to increase diversity in broadcasts and in staffing.

On June 9, Cumulus Media stations paused programming and, separately, nearly 200 stations together played Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” to commemorate the funeral of George Floyd. Since then, more stations have stepped up to commit to highlighting more African-American musical artists.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Try Harder]

What is a music station to do in this era of social change? And how can DJs appropriately respond to the currents happening around us?

My encouragement is always to make programming decisions based on the long term, or as long term as things can be in radio. A commitment to featuring more diverse voices should start with 90-day goals you can be accountable for. Organizations should also take a holistic approach to programming beyond just musical artists. The diversity of staff and volunteers, sources for news and talk programming, leadership and donor outreach in part color this discussion.

Moreover, programming that features even a majority of black, indigenous or people of color as performers does not inherently make a station diverse. KPCC vaulted itself into its current phase with a bold effort noted in a 2015 study to remake the sound of the station. In examining who they spoke to and how they did so, station leaders realized they could make KPCC more accessible. This effort to diversify its audience proved successful. And, while not every station can be as ambitious, such willingness to look beyond just playlists is admirable.

Mike Henry at Paragon Media Strategies is one of those music station leaders thinking big about what this moment can be for radio. He organized a Facebook group for stations to collaborate amid the pandemic. He offers many insights today on how stations can remain relevant, even as audiences aren’t what they may have been pre-COVID.

For some stations this issue of programming may be an internal dialog about what music and which musicians get airplay. A recent Rolling Stone essay, in a somewhat clumsy and at points false way, highlights an issue radio has tussled with for decades: how should stations and DJs deal with content that could be seen as offensive and musicians whose off-stage lives are problematic. I wrote about this last year following the noncommercial music radio convention and allegations that emerged about Ryan Adams’ conduct. With radio’s varied governance and management structures, debates over freedom of expression, and celebrity culture and the public/private dichotomy, I found it difficult to find a prescription for radio as a whole. And I suspect owners, boards, managers and DJs have faced the same quandary. As a result, things are mostly the same. How noncommercial stations tackle this matter is an ongoing story.

Radio has long held a unique place in culture and in capturing the musical tempo that goes with it. With radio formats as rigid as they are, and many radio DJs tending to specialize in genres, what social movements mean for many noncommercial and commercial stations, however, remains to be seen.

The post Community Broadcaster: Turned Up appeared first on Radio World.

Hubbard Radio is asking the Federal Communications Commission to let it operate its experimental all-digital AM band station for another year. HD Radio parent Xperi supports this and has given the FCC some insight into the kinds of additional testing it wants to do there.

The station, WWFD in Frederick, Md., not far from Washington, has been a test bed for all-digital HD Radio transmission on an AM station since 2018, as we’ve reported. Its FM translator continues providing service to analog Listeners. (A second STA for all-digital was recently approved for Urban One station WTLC(AM) in Indianapolis.)

Chief Engineer and Program Director Dave Kolesar has said he hopes WWFD will never return to analog; and the FCC recently took comments on a proposal that would allow all U.S. AM band stations to use all-digital transmission if they wish.

[Read “Broadcasters Get Behind All-Digital AM Option”]

“WWFD’s all-digital experiments over the past two years have sparked widespread positive interest in the radio industry,” Hubbard’s local arm writes in the application to extend Special Temporary Authority. It characterized industry support for the FCC proposal as overwhelming.

Meanwhile HD Radio parent Xperi Corp. says in a supporting statement that it plans to expand its testing of an HD2 multicast audio service, which would create a second audio service in addition to the main program services. “We would like to experiment with different audio bitrate sizes used, and audio formats (Parametric Stereo),” it wrote.

Xperi also wants to try different data services alongside those now deployed. It wants to test Emergency Alerts services and new advanced alerting services; test the performance of MA3 vs. analog in various all‐electric vehicles; and test changes to the MA3 all-digital waveform by reducing the power level of the unmodulated pilot carrier level. It also wants to compare building penetration for all-digital, hybrid digital and analog modes.

Hubbard and Xperi have been supported in this project by the National Association of Broadcasters Pilot program, Kintronic Labs and Cavell Mertz & Associates.

[Read our profile of Dave Kolesar from December 2019.]

The post Xperi Describes More Planned Tests at All-Digital AM appeared first on Radio World.