Industry News

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting gets $75 million in emergency funds in the $2 trillion coronavirus bill that passed the Senate late Wednesday night but still needs to be approved by the House and signed by the president.

The money is to keep up facilities of noncommercial TV and radio stations and to help stations, particularly rural ones, keep the lights on and the transmitters going in what is expected to be a lean time for pledges and corporate sponsorships, which constitute about 85% of noncom budgets.

The money goes to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the independent agency that hands out the government portion of noncom funding, and remains available through Sept. 30, 2021, though hopefully the pandemic has been resolved before that.

Here is the specific bill language.

For an additional amount for “Corporation for Public Broadcasting, $75,000,000, to remain available through September 30, 2021, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including for fiscal stabilization grants to public telecommunications entities, with no deduction for administrative or other costs of the Corporation, to maintain programming and services and preserve small and rural stations threatened by declines in non-Federal revenues: Provided, that such amount is designated by the Congress as being for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 16 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

It was not clear from the bill language how the funds would be divided among TV and radio stations if there is more need than money.

“While even $75 million only begins to address these unprecedented needs while private revenues are plummeting, we are grateful for the broad support for this emergency funding for public media among both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate,” said Americas Public Television Stations President Patrick Butler. “We will do our best with the resources we have to serve our country and our fellow citizens in this time of shared crisis.”

 

The post CPB Gets $75 Million in Emergency Funds appeared first on Radio World.

Here’s your Thursday edition of RW’s coronavirus roundup. We share examples of how the radio industry is reacting to the pandemic and helping communities stay in-the-know. Tell us what you’re doing, and we may feature you in a future article or Q&A.

— Creativity and humor will get us through. Here’s an excellent example of both from Canadian station K97, a promotional billboard/PSA that explains the concept of social distancing. This image was shared by international programming consultant Ken Benson via Facebook.

— The Georgia Association of Broadcasters is calling on radio stations to broadcast Gov. Brian Kemp’s Town Hall scheduled for tonight (March 26) at 8 p.m. Email the GAB if you need assistance to air the event, or download promos here.

The event, which will focus on COVID-19, will feature Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Georgia National Guard General and Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King and Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency Director Homer Bryson.

— RW friend and frequent contributor Dan Slentz shares this update about how Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio’s WDNP(LP) is handling the coronavirus crisis. First, he reports, the station is now providing hourly three-minute updates about the local affects of COVID-19, including information from nonprofits that are helping the community. Their social media presence also reflects this commitment to local coronavirus coverage.

The LPFM is also limiting the number of volunteers allowed at the station to two at a time. Dan says the board has also stocked up on disinfectants and hand sanitizer and invested in windscreens for each on-air talent.

WDNP has also made a few financial adjustments related to the outbreak. First, it will run extend current underwriting announcements for at least 30 more days in order to support these local organizations. Second, the station has frozen plans to grow or improve the station in order to preserve funding; Dan says these measures should help WDNP stay on the air for 16 months, even if they don’t receive additional donations or underwriters.

— In the United Kingdom at 8 p.m. (Greenwich Mean Time), the radio industry will applaud those fighting the coronavirus as part of the #clapforourcarers campaign to support the National Health System and its workers.

— Industry suppliers have had to consider whether and how to react to orders from local jurisdictions about closing non-essential businesses.

RF supplier ERI published a statement Tuesday: “ERI is recognized as part of the U.S. critical infrastructure communications industry and as such will maintain primary operations.” It cited guidance from President Trump regarding critical infrastructure industries as defined by the Department of Homeland Security. “Consistent with this guidance, Electronics Research Inc. will remain open and operating at a capacity level necessary to make currently scheduled shipments, to respond to new orders and customer support requests,” ERI stated. “This exception for Critical Infrastructure businesses, which includes ERI, is included in Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb’s Stay at Home Order.” That order kicked in Tuesday and runs at least until April 7.

“Some of our workers are operating remotely but those working from home have access to the tools needed to perform their normal duties and ERI’s facilities are staffed and remain open to fill the needs of the radio and television stations that are performing the vital functions of delivering news, important safety information and providing entertainment to the audiences and communities they serve.”

— iHeartRadio Honolulu has rolled out Support808.com, a new website featuring local Oahu businesses that are still operational during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ones that are hiring or looking for volunteers. Support808.com will also host a virtual food drive for the Hawaii Foodbank, according to the launch announcement.

The post COVID-19: Broadcasters Keep Communities Healthy, Informed appeared first on Radio World.

WEST SUSSEX, England — The world is awash in inaccurate and downright misleading information about Covid-19. Taking a stand against this confusion is the mission of Health Info Radio; a fact-based voice broadcaster on DAB and the internet.

Duncan Barkes uses his home studio based around a Sonifex Sovereign mixer to update the content on Health Info Radio. Credit: Lily Barkes.

Produced as a public service by Southdown Media in London, the station offers a mix of updates on Covid-19 symptoms, myths, and social isolation rules, plus interviews designed to help listeners through the shutdown and the pressure staying at home can put on their relationships.

“Health Info Radio is a non-profit rolling information service broadcasting nationally from Sussex, England and is funded and technically supported by Southdown Media, which owns and operates two small scale digital radio stations here in the United Kingdom,” said Simon Hardwick, director of Southdown Media.

Its creation was spurred by the fact that Hardwick “Personally felt frustrated that the important science-based prevention messages that could save lives were being lost in the background noise of speculation, discussion and opinion of other broadcast media.”

FROM IDEA TO REALITY, FAST

Of course, seeing a need for a Covid-19 information station is one thing. Actually launching one is another.

Simon Hardwick’s home studio, which features a Sonifex 2 mixer. Credit: Simon Hardwick

“As an existing small-scale DAB station operator, I already knew the benefits of small-scale DAB, but wondered if a simple information station would be possible,” Hardwick admitted.

“Thanks to the incredible generosity of radio industry colleagues and suppliers we’ve proved it is, and that the small-scale DAB platform here in the U.K. is flexible enough to launch a radio station on a number of multiplexes within two days of the original idea!” (Radio colleagues Duncan Barkes, Ash Elford and Dean Kavanagh helped Hardwick bring Health Info Radio came into being in just 48 hours.)

When it comes to informing the public about Covid-19, Health Info Radio sticks to the facts.

“Our content is deliberately simple,” said Hardwick. “It’s a looped information sequence of the latest virus prevention and spread advice, alongside background information about the virus, and advice on how to cope with self isolation, both physically and mentally.”

But simple does not mean simple-minded: “Our information is based on the official government medical advice with supplementary information from various medical experts with scripts overseen by Dr. Dean Kavanagh of the Institute of Biomedical Research at the University of Birmingham.”

NO NONSENSE ALLOWED

Health Info Radio’s content is produced and voiced by a team of professional broadcasters. They collectively share responsibility for what goes to air, and update their spoken-word segments whenever new information becomes available.

Health Info Radio’s listing on TuneIn.com Credit: Duncan Barkes

As for production? “Southdown Media have provided the DAB encoding infrastructure using the Open Digital Radio platform,” replied Hardwick. “We’ve had online support from web hosting company Aiir and extra script coding by Togglebit, which allows us to work entirely remotely.”

That’s right: In keeping with the dictates of social isolation, all of Health Info Radio’s people are working from their homes; uploading content via the web and using WhatsApp to coordinate the station’s programming schedule.

“Playout for the station is managed by Playout One and the airtime has been kindly donated by UK DAB platform operators,” Hardwick said. “All contributors and companies have very kindly donated their time and skills for free as they share our desire to get important, potentially life-saving messages out there to as wide an audience as possible.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Since launching on March 16, Health Info Radio has been catching on with U.K. listeners hungry for accurate Covid-19 information. “We’re not actively soliciting responses but we’ve had a considerable response from people saying they had learnt something from the station which makes it worthwhile, alongside an overwhelming number of help offers from the general public,” said Hardwick.

Health Info Radio is also eager for content providers around the world to copy its format and information to keep their own listeners safe.

“If other broadcasters and platform operators want to take our information and programming as syndicated content or to rebroadcast our live stream, we’d be happy for them to do so,” said Simon Hardwick. “They can get in touch with us via our website.”

[COVID-19 Advice: Communication, Patience, Trust Your Engineer]

To help radio broadcasters provide up-to-date Covid-19 news to their listeners, mobile app technology provider RadioMax is offering to supply them with free mobile apps.

“As more and more people stay at home, not spending as much time in their cars over the next several weeks, we want to give stations and their listeners an additional way to stay connected and informed via a mobile app,” said RadioMax CEO John Wanzung.

“The current situation is an opportunity for all of radio to rise to the occasion to inform and support our communities.”

The post Health Info Radio Cuts Through the Covid-19 Confusion appeared first on Radio World.

An auction of FM construction permits that had been planned for late April is now postponed.

The Federal Communications Commission said Auction 106 will be put off indefinitely.

[Read: FCC Bars Visitors from Facilities Due to Coronavirus]

Office of Managing Director may grant special permission for those with operational necessity

“Auction 106 applicants that submitted upfront payments may obtain a refund of those deposits after submitting a written request,” it stated. Details are in a public notice.

The auction, whenever it’s held, will offer 130 CPs including 34 that were available from prior auctions.

According to prior reporting on the CommLawBlog, these are channels formerly occupied by stations that lost or cancelled their licenses, channels sold to bidders who failed to pay their bids, channels that were offered but drew no bidders, and channels that have never been opened up to applications.

 

The post FCC Postpones FM Auction 106 appeared first on Radio World.

Getty/
Kathrin Ziegler

Research firm Nielsen released the findings of a study about American attitudes surrounding the COVID-19 crisis and radio listening.

“The study showed that consumers hold radio in high regard with 60% of adults 18+ saying that they trust radio to give timely information about the coronavirus,” the company said. “Eighty three percent of American adults also report spending the same or more time with radio as a result of the COVID outbreak.”

The survey was done online over three days last week among a weighted sample of 1,000 adults 18+ in the U.S.

Nielsen Audio is a supplier of research products for the U.S. radio industry; its ratings have been a major component of the relationship between stations and advertisers since it acquired Arbitron in 2013. It frequently highlights the power of radio, for example pointing out that when evaluated through the same Nielsen lens as other media and using directly comparable metrics, “radio reaches more people of every generation than nearly any other content.”

Managing Director Brad Kelly in Wednesday’s survey announcement stated that at a time of heightened uncertainty and disrupted routines, “consumers are turning to radio as a trusted source of information and community connection, mirroring patterns observed during past regional and national disasters and weather events.”

Among further findings, the survey found that 92% of American adults are concerned moderately or extremely about COVID-19. More than half said radio is a good source of information about the coronavirus and associated restrictions, trust that what they hear on radio is accurate, and trust information they get from favorite radio hosts. About 42% of consumers reported that radio has helped them deal with the outbreak; a slightly higher percentage indicated that radio helps them know what stores are open and where to shop.

The post Nielsen Survey Highlights Consumer Trust in Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Ed Czarnecki

Ed Czarnecki is senior director for strategy and government affairs at Digital Alert Systems and has served on numerous industry and emergency advisory committees, including with the FCC, DHS-FEMA, SBE, NCTA and others. He is currently chair of the ATSC TG3-10 working group on emergency alerts, and vice chair of the ATSC Advanced Emergency Information Implementation Team. 

Radio World caught up with Czarnecki to learn about how the emergency alert system and broadcasters are handling the need to deploy critical COVID-19 and novel coronavirus information.

Radio World: We’ve heard a lot of discussion about the role of public alerting right now. U.S. broadcasters know the EAS and WEA systems; are these being used in the coronavirus crisis? How?

Ed Czarnecki: Public alert and warning systems are just starting to be used right now to keep the public informed about different aspects of this public health emergency.  So far, we’ve seen WEA used more than EAS, with WEA notifications being issued in parts of Texas, Florida, California, Michigan, Rhode Island and elsewhere.  Few EAS alerts have been sent so far, but it is possible that EAS will be used more frequently if this public health emergency continues to escalate.

RW: Which warnings specifically have come into play?  

Czarnecki: A few jurisdictions have begun issuing advisories via WEA and even EAS.H EAS (and WEA) do not have specific event codes that directly relate to a pandemic or specific public health related alerts, so alert originators and broadcasters need to use generic messages like a Civil Emergency Message, or Local Area Emergency to cover those conditions (or a Public Safety Message for WEA). 

One of the first COVID-19 related messages was a Civil Emergency Message (CEM) issued in Rhode Island on March 17. Their WEA message said: “State of RI: Due to COVID-19, do not gather in groups of 25+. www.health.ri.gov/covid.” For EAS, the message (if any broadcaster forwarded it) would have been the standard EAS header text for a CEM, followed by “This is a message from the State of Rhode Island. People should not gather in groups of 25 or more. Restaurants, bars and coffee shops are takeout or delivery only through March 30. All Rhode Islanders returning from international travel are required to self-quarantine for 14 days. Visit www.health.ri.gov/covid for more information.” The Rhode Island message is also an example of the CAP message being sent out with both English and Spanish messages.

Other states, counties and cities have relied mainly on WEA, using the Public Safety Alert category for mobile alerts. New York City and El Paso, Texas, have sent out numerous city-wide WEA messages related to the coronavirus health emergency, so far. Michigan sent a state-wide WEA public safety alert on March 24, announcing that a “Stay at Home Stay Safe” order — prohibiting “nonessential” travel in Michigan, but telling people that you are allowed to leave your home for health and safety reasons, groceries and supplies, some outdoor activities and to care for others. 

Manatee County in Florida sent out WEA public safety messages with the subject “coronavirus information” that read, “Prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Beach and restaurant restrictions in effect: 10 people per group, maintain 6 ft distance. Restaurant 50% capacity restrictions in place. Bars and nightclubs closed.” There are several other examples across the nation, all along the same lines. But, while relaying on WEA as a public warning channel, local authorities have tended to rely on broadcasters to relay broader public information about the public health emergency.

Michigan WEA alert:

 

Washington state alert:

RW: Some experts worry about “over alerting.” What’s the right amount?

Czarnecki: This is a bit of a subjective question. In South Korea, the government was issuing a steady stream of messages to mobile phones (alerts, updates and advisories). While the info was initially appreciated initially, we hear that many Koreans became bothered fairly quickly by the stream of messages, tuning them out. Korean authorities might have gone a bit overboard, sending dozens of messages a day, each time a case was identified, each time a restaurant might have been exposed, etc. The government credits the mobile phone alerts to helping stem the spread of the disease, but we still hear anecdotal information about mobile users getting frustrated at the amount of messages they had been receiving (and whether it was relevant and important enough for them).

Alert originators should bear in mind a balance between keeping people informed, versus bombarding them and causing message fatigue.

Another point is to remember that these public warning systems — both EAS and WEA — are best used for targeted, actionable information. Not general advisories, but specific information telling people what to do.

RW: Why is it important to be aware of the difference between public information and a public alert?

Czarnecki: In some of the WEA message examples we just discussed, you can almost feel the struggle to squeeze emergency information into a system that was designed for concise emergency alerts. This challenge is relevant for both WEA and EAS.

Public alerts are a specific call to action, while public emergency information may be more general (e.g. health and care information about COVID-19). An alert should be targeted and actionable. It should concisely tell identify the risk (or situation), where (and when) it is located, what exactly people should do to maximize their safety, and how specifically they should do it.  

[Read More: IPAWS Coronavirus Guidelines]

Public information tends to be the bigger story, a greater degree of information and instructions. More context, if you will. Emergency Public Information may be issued even though there is no “alert,” and EPI may also enhance an alert with more information on what is happening, what the response organization is doing, and what else the public should do for its safety.

The point here is that information needs to go through the right set of systems — the right tool for each type of job. EAS and WEA are best suited for that targeted, actionable alert and are not necessarily very good tools for conveying (or trying to squeeze) emergency public information into these relatively short message bursts.

When people receive an alert, they tend to seek additional information to make a decision — to confirm their understanding. And that usually means turning to radio, TV or internet news sites. This is the interrelationship between a public alert and public information — the alert is the “bell ringer” that drives people to seek additional information.

Alert and warning systems exist within a larger communication ecosystem. A public alert or warning about COVID-19 (or a stay-at-home/shelter in place alert) will serve to drive people to other communications media (broadcast, TV, cable, Internet) to seek out more emergency information. It may be a mistake to try to cram less actionable emergency information into an alert system — but it may be more effective to use alert tools to motivate people to seek out “the rest of the story” via media.

RW: What should broadcasters know or do right now that they’re not already doing?

Czarnecki: Broadcasters should ensure that their EAS equipment is in proper working order, and they should also check in with their LECC or SECC representatives to double check what event codes they should be enabling in case EAS is used for this public health emergency. This is also another reason why broadcasters should double check to make sure their software is up to date.  

As I noted earlier, there is a real chance that the EAS system may be used by different jurisdictions, depending on what happens next with this public health emergency. It is important for broadcasters to double check that their systems are in proper working order, and up to date.

EAS operational readiness is essential — and this includes having the right event codes enabled for forwarding. If the originator is going to use a specific event code (like CEM, LAE, SPW or CDW), the receiver must be set up to handle it. The system fails if the originator uses an event code that a receiver is not configured to forward. In the DASDEC system, for example, the Alert Agent can be configured to be “open” to all sorts of event codes, but not necessarily fire off the alerts. It can essentially be configured to be “at the ready.”

Of course, broadcasters with newsroom operations are likely already in regular touch with local authorities, and that is a critical link for ensuring that emergency public information is being made available to the public. Local newsrooms are the nexus of the broadcasters’ role as an essential “first informer.”

RW: What should local alerting authorities do differently, if anything?

Czarnecki: Local authorities are challenged by this unprecedented situation. Their resources are being stretched in different directions. However, local authorities generally know best when emergency information is needed in their area and how best to communicate to people their jurisdiction. 

We have seen in other situations overseas where medical professionals trained in risk communications had a measurable impact by releasing timely and effective messages for public awareness and other important information such as symptoms to look for. Clear, concise messages from authorities can help people (i.e. broadcaster audiences) feel more in control and persuade them to make important health-related decisions to help ensure their safety. 

So, this leaves local authorities with the need to determine how much of that information should be sent via a public warning channel, like EAS or WEA, versus more general resources, like news stories and PSAs over broadcast media. 

RW: You mentioned South Korea.  What have other countries been doing?

Czarnecki: We have information about how a few countries have been approaching public warning during this public health emergency. In Canada, one province (Saskatchewan) issued a Broadcast Immediate mobile alert to deliver a public information message (stay at home). We’re expecting other provinces to be issuing similar stay-at-home messages, and likely over broadcast media as well (via their version of the EAS system). Canada has an integrated public alert and warning system (NPAS) that is roughly analogous to the U.S. IPAWS system — with both mobile phone and broadcast components.

New Zealand also just launched nationwide COVID-19 alerts via text messaging, essentially telling the entire country to shelter-in-place. In New Zealand, the alerts are being transmitted over their cell broadcast system, with emergency information being disseminated over broadcast radio and TV.

Back to public alerting, Britain, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Romania and many other European nations have sent social distancing and stay-at-home messages via text message alert. As far as I know, all these European countries have been relying primarily on mobile media to disseminate alerts, while relying on news media and PSAs to spread the word over broadcast media.

In the United Kingdom, the government issued a text message nationwide: “GOV.UK ALERT CORONAVIRUS  New rules in force now: you must stay at home. More info and exemptions at gov.uk/coronavirus  Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.” I believe this was the first use of mass mobile alert messaging by the UK government. The UK does not have a WEA-type system — the government asked the carriers directly to carry the message (and government agencies are now apparently infighting about who is in charge (or not in charge) of mass notification). 

Interestingly (and perhaps disturbingly), the UK government is also in talks with mobile operators to use phone location and usage data to monitor whether people are actually staying at home or not (which has raised all manner of privacy considerations). Germany and Italy have also been evaluating this kind of mobile device location monitoring, which could include contact-tracing. I’m not opining on whether this is good or bad, or appropriate — just that different countries can have significantly different approaches to public warning and emergency information. And broadcasters tend to have a global role as a “first informer” even when there is no formal broadcast alert system in place.

Mobile alert in Saskatchewan:

Greek mobile alert (multilingual):

Mobile alert in Romania:

The Netherlands:

The post COVID-19 and Emergency Alerting Best Practices appeared first on Radio World.

Here’s your Wednesday roundup of some COVID-19-driven news in the broadcast industry.

— The Federal Communications Commission announced Tuesday that its March 31 Open Meeting will be live streamed via www.fcc.gov/live and on the FCC’s YouTube channel. There will be no in-person meeting due to the “COVID-19 pandemic and related agency telework and headquarters access policies.”

— On a related note, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many to speculate about whether networks are robust enough to handle a predicted increase in streaming due to increased numbers of people heeding government warnings to stay home. Analyst Dan Rayburn shared an update that indicates how things are going so far: YouTube has defaulted to standard-quality video streaming. Good thing radio broadcasters don’t have to worry about Hi-Fi and bandwidth.

— Ohio-based broadcast manufacturer The Telos Alliance it is able to remain in operation with a limited staff despite the state’s current “stay at home policy,” according to a post on the company’s Facebook page.

Westwood One White House correspondent Bob Constantini and colleagues assemble in the newly “socially distant” briefing room.

— Even White House correspondents need to practice caution and social distancing in the age of the novel coronavirus. Westwood One shared a photo of Bob Constantini, who was cleared to attend the Tuesday coronavirus task force news conference as radio pool reporter only after his temperature was confirmed to be normal.

— Everyone could use a little cheering up right now. Some stations think a temporary format change could be just the ticket. “Christmas in March” on the airwaves across the U.S. Stations getting press for this stunt include KEZ(FM) of Phoenix; WAJI(FM) of Ft. Wayne, Ind.; and KEZK(FM) of St. Louis.

Is your station experimenting with any format changes, either to keep up listeners’ spirits or to accommodate your staff’s work from home needs? Let Radio World know.

— UK company Glensound provided this update Wednesday about company operations during the three-week lockdown in the British Isles. First, the company says it has both a “very large component stock” and “a large stock of finished items ready for shipping.” While much of its staff is now working from home, they will temporarily have a smaller production capacity but will prioritize “order requirements.” Glensound also has bumped up online support service offering and is prepping some online webinars to provide product updates and tutorials.

The post COVID-19 Updates: Next FCC Meeting Is Online Only, Format Adaptations & More appeared first on Radio World.

National Spanish broadcaster COPE is making use of AEQ Alio audio codecs to maintain its programming during the COVID-19 crisis.

COPE Presenter Pilar Cisneros broadcasts from home.

COPE’s correspondents have been using the portable codecs for years and have gradually increased the number of units they own. According to AEQ, today COPE’s team operates nearly 200 Alio audio codecs.

The fact that the broadcaster already owned so many AEQ codecs for remote broadcasting has been helpful during this health crisis, says AEQ.

Over the last few years, the firm says it has “fine-tuned” the codecs based on feedback from the radio network.

It says the user-friendly system allows non-technical staff to easily connect the already preconfigured gear to their internet router. The main studio controls the unit. In addition, operators can lock all buttons on the control panel, leaving only the “Help” button active to contact a remote operator.

The Control Phoenix software control application manages all remote Alio units from one or more workstations at the network headquarters. It can also pair them with the stationary Venus and Stratos codecs in the central rack room. If a journalist doesn’t have access to a cabled internet connection, he or she can use a 3G or 4G router.

COPE decided to send most staff home at the very beginning of the crisis. The station has also done done a massive campaigning on social media to encourage people to stay home.

The post COPE Uses AEQ Gear to Maintain Broadcasts appeared first on Radio World.

Getty Images/Michelle Blasko / EyeEm

I sat in on Radio World’s presentation about “Digital Sunrise for AM Radio” hosted by Editor in Chief Paul McLane. The webcast lasted almost two hours and was technically informative.

The question Paul kept asking the presenters about going all-digital on AM was one he hears numerous people asking him, “Has the horse left the barn?” In other words, has the world moved on and does anyone really cares about AM radio anymore.

But that’s not the question that was running through my mind.

TOO MANY CHOICES

We live in a world with infinite choices when it comes to audio and video entertainment. Twenty-eight years ago, Bruce Springsteen released his song “57 Channels and Nothing’s On.” The lyrics are very telling of the condition we find ourselves in today.

I bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills

With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills

Man came by to hook up my cable TV

We settled in for the night my baby and me

We switched ’round and ’round ’til half-past dawn

There was fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on …

It’s not unusual for people to spend an entire evening going through the program guide on Netflix only to finally retire for the evening having not watched a single program. We’ve all done that.

On just Netflix alone it was estimated in 2015 that it would take a person 34,739 hours to watch everything available on the streaming service. I’m sure that number has grown considerably when you consider in 2019 Netflix introduced 371 series and movies to view.

Add to Netflix more television streaming services like Amazon Prime, Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+, YouTube and it means choice is not the TV viewer’s problem, it’s choice paralysis. (And maybe also how to pay for it all.)

ALL-DIGITAL AM

The question running through my mind about investing in building out an all-digital AM radio service in America is, “Why?” 

When I scan the AM band now, I can hear the same talk shows on station after station. The FM band is no different when it comes to everyone doing the same type of programming.

It has me humming Bruce Springsteen’s song in my head, only with a lot more channels of programming attached to the “nothing’s on” part.

Digital AM seems to be the answer to a question that listeners aren’t asking.

LESS IS MORE

Many businesses fall into the trap of thinking that more products equal more sales and radio certainly can be accused of falling into that trap.

HD Radio was designed to offer a higher-quality broadcast signal for AM and FM radio stations. FM station owners didn’t really get interested in HD Radio until they learned they could feed FM translators with HD2, HD3 signals and put more FM analog signals on the air in their market.

I learned that the all-digital AM service offers the opportunity for an HD2 signal that could feed another FM analog translator.

What Al and Laura Ries tell us from their research is how this strategy of adding more and more choice becomes a trap and can lead to negative consequences in the long term.

ONE GOOD REASON

In media sales, we try to have our clients identify what one thing makes them special and unique. What makes their business so different that consumers will want to come to them instead of their competitors. You may know this process as finding a business’s “unique selling proposition.”

Back in the day, 66-WNBC put up a billboard that gave radio listeners one good reason to turn their radio dial to 660 AM. It simply said. “If we weren’t so bad, we wouldn’t be so good.” This one simple sentence captured the essence of both Don Imus and Howard Stern. It was this radio station’s one good reason to listen. It was this radio station’s one good reason to advertise on it.

And speaking of one, I was told by the WNBC sales manager that it only took one commercial on Howard Stern for an advertiser to see immediate sales results.

That’s the power of a unique brand.

MISPLACED PRIORITIES

Radio had a choice to make in the last decade, to develop unique powerful brands localized to the marketplace the FCC licensed them to serve, or build out more signals with programming that was virtually hard to tell apart from one another. Unfortunately, the radio industry chose the latter and as a result has turned the business into a commodity.

Something for everyone equals nothing for nobody.

Economics defines a commodity as goods or services that have fungibility, in other words something the marketplace treats as everything being nearly equivalent to each other, with little regard for who produces it.

This is why radio sales people will often hear advertisers says things like “all radio stations sound the same, now let’s talk about your spot price.”

Perception is reality.

Or should I say that the listener and advertiser’s perception is accurate, with the reality today being all radio stations do sound the same.

ELECTIONS & RADIO LISTENING

I read an article the other day that said what changes the outcome of any election is turnout. That the way someone wins an election is by getting people who normally sit it out on the couch engaged and out to the polls. It’s not getting people to switch party affiliations.

I think radio may have a similar problem.

For the radio industry to be growing again, what radio needs to be focused on, and investing in, are its people and programming, not putting more signals on the air with nothing to hear.

This commentary appeared at https://dicktaylorblog.com/ and is published with permission.

Dick Taylor, CRMC/CDMC, is a retired broadcast professor who taught at Western Kentucky University.

The post Invest in People and Programming, Not More Signals appeared first on Radio World.

DUBUQUE, Iowa — “You are kidding! That’s a 3 kW FM transmitter?”   

That’s what I thought when I saw my first Ecreso at an FM station about 100 miles northwest of Dubuque, Iowa. It had recently hired me for some contract engineering work. To a guy who just returned to broadcast engineering after an 18-year absence, it was a wakeup call. This Ecreso unit, built by WorldCast Systems, is known as its FM 3kW. It recently replaced the station’s older main transmitter.  

While I cannot take credit for the purchasing decision or its installation, I can tell you that they made a great choice. It comes as a complete, compact, 3U by 19-inch rack mount unit. Modular by design, this unit boasts an efficiency of up to 76%. It is powered by a 20 A single-phase breaker (184 VAC or higher), and can also be wired for operation on three-phase power. 

When I mentioned complete, you will not only have direct-to-channel digital modulation, you can license (free testing included for 30 days) a flame-throwing five-band sound processor with your choice of audio presets to match your station’s format. Experimenting with the CHR and urban format settings, I was impressed how loud and competitive this baby was, all while automatically keeping the modulation peaking at 97%.  

COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION

You can use direct AES or left/right analog in, with the optional five-band processing, or if you like your current audio processing, use the MPX input. Other features you will like are digital MPX over AES, the dynamic RDS encoder, and audio backup from an internal micro SD card player. Remote control and monitoring can be accessed via an easy to use web interface, or hard-wired to your current remote control via the standard (in the United States) GPIO board. SNMP is supported. Local control is menu driven from the front-panel screen and button keys.

What about reliability? With Ecreso’s FM 3 kW you have a standard version with two, hot-swappable, power supply unit modules with a load-sharing design. In the event of a DC power supply malfunction, the other PSU keeps the FM 3 kW on the air at about 1,900 W.  

If you opt for the “+1” version, you will get an extra, or third PSU and if one is lost, you can still operate at 3,000 W RF output. RF amplification is also redundant and is capable of operating even in the event of a fault. You could lose a MOSFET and still be on air at a little over half power. In fact, Ecreso is very open about these scenarios. Go to the company’s website and download its tech guide titled “What Happens If?” 

As rugged as this unit is, it’s nice to know help is just around the corner. I have worked with Ecreso/WorldCast’s Tony Peterle on a PSU software setting that needed changing. Tony said he could remotely change it, all he needed was IP access to the unit. 

But this transmitter site has no network access. Tony’s solution was to lend the station a 4G modem and a switch, and with a remote terminal access program on my lap top, he was able to remotely log in and change the setting. I really appreciate his help, creativity and patience. 

Warranty-wise, three years; but for a small charge you can extend your warranty to 10 years. To me, with a warranty that long, Ecreso must be very confident of the equipment it is building. 

The unit I am familiar with has been installed and running for about six months trouble-free. As for that older transmitter, the station’s owner has new tubes for it and would like me to go through and get it ready for standby use. As reliable as the new Ecreso FM 3 kW is, I’m just not sure it will ever be needed.

For information, contact Tony Peterle at WorldCast Systems in Florida at 1-305-249-3110 or visit www.worldcastsystems.com.

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