As traditional cable and satellite providers struggle to retain customers in the highly competitive and increasingly fragmented streaming media ecosystem, Black audiences, largely known as loyal cable and satellite television customers, are increasingly opting to cut the cord.
That’s the key takeaway from a new Horowitz study, released Wednesday.
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Virtual meetings will remain a major part of how we work for months, or perhaps years.
And, as longtime public relations professional and “Zoom” expert Rosemary Ravinal sees it, this will provide new opportunities for those who acquire the skills necessary to deliver world-class online presentations.
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With the final fate of his former FM radio stations still in limbo, as the FCC has not said yes to a transfer of control of the properties to VCY America from court-appointed receiver Larry Patrick, the most infamous licensee in the American West has moved forward with a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
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Nautel has introduced an online Factory Acceptance Testing program for new transmitters.
“A FAT is a set of predefined tests that many customers must witness being completed in real-time as part of project specifications,” the company stated in an announcement.
[Read: Transmitters Prepped for Turkey]
Test Supervisor Charles Andrews said restrictions on travel because of the pandemic have made it harder for clients to come to the factory.
Nautel said the test team can use online meeting platforms paired with virtual communications interfaces such as Teams or Team Viewer, to allow customers to witness transmitter testing in real time as part of their acceptance process.
“The Nautel AUI and multiple pieces of measurement equipment are employed along with a suite of cameras, wireless microphones and personnel to conduct the tests. Customers are able to communicate with their transmitter(s) via the AUI and view performance measurements throughout the final testing process,” it stated.
The company posted the video below to explain the process.
The post Nautel Introduces Online Testing appeared first on Radio World.
A broadcast company that says it is on the cutting edge of technology and the next generation of content delivery throughout the U.S. has just taken a big leap forward by selecting Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to power its next-generation ATSC 3.0 broadcast internet network — the potentially profit-generating benefit linked to what powers NEXTGEN TV.
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Gordon Smith, president/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, is one of nine people being honored as “giants of broadcasting” by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation.
Its list of giants was begun in 2003 and now consists of more than 200 broadcasters. The foundation will salute the new additions in an online ceremony on Nov. 9. (The nine additions are shown at bottom.)
“The Giants of Broadcasting celebration was created by LABF, a charity dedicated to preserving the past, reflecting the present, and informing the future,” the organization stated. “It was created to honor the remarkable creators, innovators, leaders, performers and journalists who have brought the electronics arts to the prominence they occupy today.”
Gordon Smith has led the NAB for the past 12 years. He will step down at the end of this year.
[Related: “The Broadcasters Foundation Honors Gordon Smith”]
Proceeds from the November online luncheon support the work of the LABF, including the Library of American Broadcasting, which is housed at the University of Maryland. It will also support student training and diversity initiatives of the International Radio and Television Society Foundation.
For event information email joyce@giantsofbroadcasting.com.
The 2021 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts honorees:
Emily Barr
President and CEO
Graham Media Group
Frank Boyle
President & CEO
Frank Boyle & Co.
Bob Costas
Hall of Fame sports broadcaster
Russell Perry
Founder & President
Perry Publishing & Broadcasting Co.
Robin Roberts
Co-anchor, “Good Morning America”
President, Rock’n Robin Productions
Marion Ross
Emmy, Golden Globe nominated Film and TV Actress
Cast member Marion Cunningham. “Happy Days”
Neal Shapiro
President & CEO
The WNET Group
Sen. Gordon H. Smith
President & CEO
National Association of Broadcasters
Jordan Wertlieb
Senior vice president, Hearst Communications
President, Hearst Television
The post Gordon Smith Is Among the New Broadcasting “Giants” appeared first on Radio World.
The author is director, RF engineering at Shively Labs.
We all want to get the most value out of money spent.
RF system repair can be costly. However, a well-implemented maintenance program can greatly reduce the need for repairs — and when there is damage or degradation to a system, that program can detect and address the issue early, when repair costs are low.
One very useful tool in RF system maintenance is baseline measurements.
Taken at the time of acquisition or system commissioning, these provide a snapshot of the condition of the RF system. They can then be compared to later measurements and reveal trends in performance.
These measurements might include transmission line sweeps, transmitter operating parameters, forward and reflected power samples, thermal readings of filters, transmission line and connections, current and resistance measurements of deicer systems, RF spectrum measurements, pressurization and signal coverage.
The hardware between the transmitter output and the antenna radiator is the final stage of the FM transmission system. This part of the transmission system can contain RF switches; directional couplers; elbow complexes; band-pass, band-stop and notch filters; long transmission line runs; power splitters; “T”s; matching networks; feeder cables, etc.
It’s crucial to the delivery of signal to your coverage area to take the time to get this section right and then keep it right.
During antenna installation, the tower crew and site manager rely on manufacturers to show clearly the antenna position and orientation on the tower.
I’ve seen this exchange break down, resulting in antenna parasitic elements mounted in the wrong position, causing both high VSWR and poor coverage. Fortunately, it was a quick fix to correct the VSWR and signal coverage. Unfortunately, it required a tower crew and two engineers to visit the site.
If care is taken with the details during installation and the system is optimized, it’s at its best and should provide years of service.
(I left the “trouble free” part out intentionally. RF system maintenance … what can break? It’s just bent pieces of metal, right?)
Proactive mindsetJust about anything can happen to cause failure in an RF system.
Installing coax hangers.Antenna damage from wind, falling ice, lightning, tower work, vandalism, loose connections and aging components are just a few. When an engineer has multiple systems to take care of, something always seems to be in need of attention.
One way we have some control over such failures is regular system maintenance.
Have you ever checked site parameters after a significant weather event and found that some parameter had changed — not to the point of failure, but enough to prompt an investigation? Then upon a closer look you found damage that needed repair?
Or perhaps on a routine site visit, you discovered excessive heat on one or more components, and upon further investigation found an elbow that was nearly kaput — it would have failed catastrophically within weeks or days.
This is proactive maintenance and repair. If these near-misses haven’t happened to you, they likely will.
Had you been unable to check those readings after that storm and thus could not notice increasing VSWR, or had you not visited that site and noticed the hot elbow, the condition would have persisted, worsened and eventually failed, taking your station off the air.
That call usually comes at midnight on Super Bowl weekend.
Burns are visible where wire had been used to secure a flexible 3-inch line.Checking sites that have suffered through extreme weather events is a prudent practice. So are regular visits, even to sites that may be considered trouble-free. The periodicity will vary — more frequent for trouble sites, perhaps quarterly or even semiannually for more reliable sites.
Annual tower climbs are great if it’s in the budget, but when they are not possible, we come back to intimate knowledge of system performance and those baselines, and running history logs that allow us to review for any indication that a problem has started and at what rate it is changing.
This can be useful information when determining if you need to scramble to make a maintenance visit immediately or can schedule for a later date.
Sample issuesSome things to look for when inspecting for damage in the antenna:
In more complex systems, the power dividers and coaxial lines should be installed without undue mechanical stress on the components.
The coax should have the appropriate hangers and fasteners where they cross tower members or other antenna feed components. Consult the manufacturer for specific recommendations and best practices.
Antennas that have deicers systems usually have an external wiring harness to distribute AC power to each heating element within each radiator. The manufacturer will have the resistive values for each element and current draw to expect.
An ammeter measurement of each leg of the circuit, including the neutral, will give the first clues to the condition of the deicer system.
If the wiring harness was not installed correctly or fasteners have fallen away over time, the harness can hang in the high RF environment. This can cause reflected power issues at the transmitter and changes in coverage; it can cause currents to be induced into the wiring harness, and voltages large enough to cause arcing between the conductors of the wiring harness and tower members or other cables that pass in close proximity.
Visual documentationFinally, take lots of photos, photos, photos.
This is a great way to document how the antenna was installed and its current state. When you share photographs with the antenna manufacturer, they have very useful information to inform their recommendations.
With a single-radiator antenna it will be obvious when something is not quite right. On panel antennas, the multiple bays, multiple radiators per bay and numerous feeder cables can really mask a problem.
This article is from a Radio World ebook. Click image to read more on this subject.This brings to mind a recent incident where a station engineer noticed a slight increase in VSWR from 1.05 to 1.15. This occurred right after a tower crew had been working above the antenna, removing old TV equipment.
The engineer noticed the change and hired a crew to climb and inspect the antenna. They found that a cable had been caught at some point during the rigging and pulled sideways until it caused a severe kink at the point where it attached to the radiator input.
If the indications had not been heeded and the cable replaced, the next indication would have been loss of pressure, resulting from a coax burn. And we know what happens when we let the magic smoke out.
Ultimately, having an intimate knowledge of your system’s performance, both within the RF system and in the coverage area, will serve you well. This knowledge will allow you to prioritize your maintenance schedule by need, effecting maintenance to correct small problems before they become big expensive ones.
The post Tips for RF System Installation and Maintenance appeared first on Radio World.
Audacy has acquired “an exclusive, perpetual license” to WideOrbit’s digital audio streaming technology and the related assets and operations of WO Streaming — a cloud-based distribution and monetization platform for live and on-demand audio streams.
The acquisition, recently hinted at by Audacy, Inc. thanks to an SEC fiing, gives the company formerly known as Entercom control of the WideOrbit digital audio tech business.
President/CEO David Field says it “perfectly complements” Audacy’s organic investments to make the company’s digital platform a top choice for listeners, clients and partners.
Audacy will operate WO Streaming under the name “AmperWave.”
Importantly, the entire WO Streaming team, led by John Morris, SVP of Streaming, has joined Audacy.
While terms of the transaction were not disclosed, the WO Streaming deal is directly tied to Audacy’s October 13 statement that it planned to offer $45 million in aggregate principal amount of subsidiary Audacy Capital Corp.’s 6.500% senior secured second-lien notes due 2027.
The “Additional Notes” served as what’s called on Wall Street an “ad-on offering,” and it was done expressly for Audacy to complete “a small digital acquisition” for approximately $40 million.
That would be the price tag of this WideOrbit deal.
In addition to its radio and digital audio products, WideOrbit is highly active in the broadcast and cable television space, in addition to programmatic TV buying. Led by CEO and founder Eric Mathewson, WideOrbit is now poised to focused solely on visual media.
Audacy Inc. said it has acquired “an exclusive, perpetual license” to WideOrbit’s digital audio streaming technology and the related assets and operations of WO Streaming.
It will operate the business under the name Amperwave.
“This acquisition gives Audacy control of its product roadmap to deliver enhanced consumer-facing streaming features for its 170 million monthly listeners,” the media company stated in the announcement, which was made by Chairman/President/CEO David Field.
WO Streaming is a cloud-based distribution and monetization platform for live and on-demand audio streams. Field said the acquisition is a complement to Audacy’s existing investments in digital audio.
In this deal, Audacy is purchasing technology and the assets and operations of WO Streaming, which is a separate business unit within WideOrbit. WO has other products including radio automation, traffic, business intelligence and sales services that are not involved in this transaction.
Audacy will operate WO Streaming under the name AmperWave.
“The entire WO Streaming team, led by John Morris, SVP Streaming, has joined Audacy,” it stated. A spokesperson declined to say how many people that entails.
The post Audacy Acquires WideOrbit’s Streaming Business appeared first on Radio World.
As announced in May, Gray Television has agreed to acquire Meredith Local Media. One month later, after an unsolicited counteroffer emerged, Gray sweetened its deal, agreeing to pay $2.825 billion in cash.
Now, in order for Gray to satisfy terms that call for Meredith Corporation shareholders to receive $16.99 per share in cash and 1-for-1 equity share in post-close Meredith, it is amending and restating its senior credit facility while concurrently seeking an additional incremental term loan valued at $1.5 billion.
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