Aggregator

JJ Green, national security correspondent, WTOP

The general manager of one of the nation’s best known news stations has denounced anonymous listener racism directed at one of the station’s employees.

And the Black national security correspondent who was the target of racist bullying is highlighting the station’s response on social media: “[It shows] how investing in a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment over time is a weapon against hate and bigotry.”

WTOP General Manager Joel Oxley penned an open letter to the WTOP community on July 21.

He acknowledged that the station, which is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, receives its share of constructive criticisms and said many of those are valid.

“And that’s all OK. We’re not perfect,” said Oxley, who has served as the station’s general manager since 1998. “We strive to be accurate all the time. We aim to be unbiased. At WTOP, we are glad to get the feedback. It makes us better — negative, positive and in-between.”

But he drew a strong line at feedback that is outright racist, focusing on a letter that the station had received from an anonymous author in Bowie, Md.

In his post Oxley called out the writer in no uncertain terms, posting an image of the letter and saying that this kind of missive cannot go unaddressed. “[This] is the communication that really bothers me,” he said. “The kind that is racist. The kind that gets my back up. Makes me angry.”

In the letter the author criticizes reporter J.J. Green and WTOP for their ongoing discussion of race, racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. Green is WTOP’s national security correspondent and co-creator of the podcast Colors: A Dialogue on Race in America.

The unnamed author logged a litany of what he called “tired” messages about “Black excuses,” “Black crime,” “thugs” and the BLM movement that he retitled “Burn, Loot, Murder.”

“I can assure you and all of WTOP that we are all sick and tired of hearing about racism,” wrote the letter writer. “No one believes in systemic racism. Just an excuse Blacks use for not improving themselves.”

“Stop the BS,” the author wrote. “We don’t want your podcast.”

Oxley wanted his audience to understand that J.J. Green is an award-winning journalist highly respected in the halls of the Pentagon and at the CIA. “We are very fortunate to have him working with us. He makes us better and helps our area be more informed,” Oxley said.

Beyond Green’s work as a reporter, he added, “he is my friend. I’ve known him for over 30 years. We met playing basketball in the ’80s. We started working together at WTOP in the ’90s. We’ve been through a lot together, and I have nothing but respect for one of the smartest and most caring people I know.”

The real reason that this listener wrote, he continued, is because Green and podcast co-host Chris Core have done a “tremendous job” taking a hard look at race relations. “They’ve done it in a balanced, thoughtful and insightful way.”

This anonymous writer — like others before — attack and discredit what they do not understand instead of stopping to listen and learn.

“J.J. is Black. And I’m white,” Oxley wrote. “Shouldn’t matter, right? But obviously it does to the person who wrote this letter. My goal with my response to this is to expose this kind of racial intolerance and ignorance in the hopes of putting more and more of it behind us for good.”

Green responded in turn, saying that such attacks are not new and are not limited to Black journalists. “During more than 30 years in radio and TV, I’ve gotten thousands of angry letters, phone calls and emails,” he said. But this one — with its unbridled, uncivilized and racist rants — led to a a different outcome: His boss, who happens to be white, stood up and demanded it stop.

“Joel Oxley … took the extraordinary step of writing an open letter … rejecting the hater, standing by my work and sending the message that we are living in a new day,” Green said.

“Let me be clear, no boss, regardless of race or gender, has ever gone this far for me,” he said. While there have often been mangers willing to express their disdain for racist communications, no one else knew about it. “Some may wonder why the big deal,” he said. “The big deal is that by Joel Oxley standing up against hate, he willingly made himself a target and established himself as a true leader in the fight against racism.”

He called that a model for industry about how to send a clear message disavowing racist acts.

Oxley said the incident will only make WTOP and its staff redouble their efforts.

 

 

The post WTOP GM: Racism Has No Place Here appeared first on Radio World.

It may have just 80 watts of power, but this FM translator emits a signal that covers nearly all of central Atlanta, thanks to its presence on a tower structure located in the industrial Reynoldstown neighborhood east of downtown.

Since the start of 2021, it has emulated a now-defunct Classic Hits station by using its former branding, “The Fox.”

Now, to borrow the title of a 1970s hit, is this Fox on the Run?

A change in ownership has been consummated.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

In late March, Keith Stover — also known to a generation of Pittsburgh radio listeners as Keith Clark — moved forward in filing paperwork with the FCC that would make him a majority owner of a pair of FM radio stations serving the Columbia, S.C., market.

Late last week, that transaction formally closed.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

In February 1993, another of the FCC’s Docket 80/90 Class A additions to the FM radio dial began serving a portion of the Mid-Hudson Valley. Seven months later, it would come under the ownership of Will Stanley.

Together with his wife, the Stanleys created a heralded and unique offering replete with Adult Alternative, Americana and folk music — most of it produced at the station’s Northern Dutchess County offices and studios.

On June 22, Stanley passed away at the age of 73.

But, WKZE-FM 98.1, licensed to Salisbury, Conn., and based in Red Hook, N.Y., will live on.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Author and AV professional Jay B. Myers will keynote the 2021 AV/IT Summit, held virtually on Thursday, Aug. 5.

The keynote, based on Myers’ book “Rounding Third and Heading for Home: The Emotional Journey of Selling My Business and the Lessons Learned Along the Way,” will review the components that go into the sale of a business, including building a business designed to sell.

He will also explore how mergers and acquisitions affect everyone in a company and how to manage culture through change.

The 2021 AV/IT Summit is produced by Radio World’s parent company Future. It is free to attend for qualified integrators, consultants, content creators, technology managers and the like. Non-sponsoring manufacturers and distributors can register for $495, or inquire about sponsorship opportunities.

 

The post Myers to Keynote 2021 AV/IT Summit appeared first on Radio World.

In September 2018, a forlorn AM radio station that had been serving Brazilians with Portuguese-language fare became the latest station to capitalize on the massive growth of the Spanish-speaking population in Central Florida. Only, it didn’t adopt another music format.

Instead, iHeartMedia gave birth to a spoken word format, today an anomaly in the Latin media world.

It now appears the decision was a savvy one.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

As of August 9, the nation’s largest broadcast TV station owner will have its news EVP/CFO.

The appointment comes following the promotion in October 2020 of Tom Carter to President/COO, a move that saw him retain his financial role.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Workflow automation, media processing, quality monitoring, and test and measurement product manufacturer Telestream says its Vantage Media Processing Platform now supports Dolby Atmos immersive audio and Dolby Vision HDR.

Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos content is now available worldwide from the leading streaming and broadcast service providers and can be experienced on millions of devices. With Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos encoding, content owners, producers, and distributors using Vantage will be able to meet their customers’ demands for incredible picture and sound quality.

Dolby Vision transforms viewing experiences with ultra-vivid picture quality — incredible brightness, contrast, color, and detail that bring entertainment to life. When compared to a standard picture, Dolby Vision can deliver colors never-before seen on a screen, highlights that are up to 40 times brighter, and blacks that are 10 times darker. With Dolby Vision, Vantage customers will be able to automate and efficiently process their content while also ensuring that their creative intent is maintained throughout the entire creative process — from post-production to distribution.

Dolby Atmos is an immersive audio technology that transforms entertainment with moving audio that flows above and around the listener. It brings people inside the action as the sounds of people, places, things, and music come alive with breathtaking realism. Dolby Atmos is now widely available across film and TV streaming, gaming, live sports broadcast, and music streaming platforms. Having Dolby Atmos support in Vantage gives content creators and distributors the ability to automate the creation, processing, and delivery of media assets that are available in this powerful audio technology.

— Doug Hansel

Getty Images – Rubberball, Mike Kemp

A proposed increase in the regulatory fees that radio licensees pay the Federal Communications Commission has sparked backlash from the industry and calls for the commission to revamp the process by which it establishes those such fees.

Broadcasters also are repeating their years-old argument that the FCC should also charge unregulated “Big Tech” fees for their use of spectrum.

The FCC in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposed an average increase for radio stations for FY2021 of 8 percent, though some fees would climb by as much as 15%. Broadcasters view the increase as significant especially coming on the heels of a pandemic. The commission aims to collect $374 million from all the industries under its purview for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

[Read: Procedures Are Published for NCE FM Window]

Filings by the National Association of Broadcasters and a joint filing by state broadcast associations complain of discrepancies in how the FCC calculates the fees it collects; and the broadcasters argue that the commission cannot justify the substantial increase in regulatory fees.

“For the third consecutive year, the commission plans to significantly increase regulatory fees for broadcasters to unfair, unsustainable levels, and in a manner that is unlawful and ignores the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating economic impact on broadcasters,” NAB wrote in a filing in June.

The association believes the FCC failed to explain the basis for the proposed increases “in any meaningful way.” It also said it is “apparent that broadcasters are not being charged more in regulatory fees because of any increased costs or benefits of their regulation.”

Spread the Burden

The commission is required by Congress to assess regulatory fees each year in an amount that can reasonably be expected to equal the amount of its appropriation. The commission issues a NPRM yearly seeking comment on the proposal; it did that in May.

The FCC estimates that in fiscal 2021 it will collect approximately $20.1 million from FM stations in annual regulatory fees, and another $9.6 million from AM licensees. The fees are based on the size of market a station serves. In all, the FCC projects it needs to collect approximately $136 million from industries regulated by the Media Bureau, including radio and television licensees, to cover the costs of some 119 full-time bureau employees.

The proposed fee increase would mean a Class A AM station in a small market serving a population of under 25,000 would pay $1,050 in 2021 compared to $975 a year ago. The largest FM broadcasters in markets of 6 million or more people would pay a top fee of $22,650 this year compared to $20,925 in 2020.

The FCC’s NPRM asks whether it should extend the temporary measures it adopted last year to help businesses suffering financial hardships because of the pandemic. Those include allowing some payment deferrals at a discounted interest rate, and in some extreme cases, fee waivers.

NAB asked the FCC to take steps to require huge tech companies and other unlicensed spectrum users pay their fair share of the commission’s activities from which they directly benefit. It contends that some of the largest and wealthiest companies in the world leverage commission proceedings to develop profitable business models yet contribute no regulatory fees.

The NAB estimates that broadcasters use 0.07% of allotted spectrum but account for at least 16% of the FCC’s entire budget while offering a free service to the public.

“The commission is forcing broadcasters to subsidize the regulation of other entities that are either contributing less than their fair share of the fees; or allowed to free ride entirely on the commission’s activities,” it wrote.

Broadcasters typically pay their annual fee by the end of September unless granted a financial hardship waiver due to the pandemic. The FCC says it has the authority to charge a 25% late fee if necessary.

The NAB asked the FCC to issue a Further Notice about expanding the base of payers to include Big Tech so the fee system can reflect the work the commission performs and the entities that actually its resources and derive benefits.

“The substantial financial impact on broadcasters and other regulated entities of exempting such companies from regulatory fees certainly warrants further consideration,” Rick Kaplan, NAB general counsel, wrote in ex parte comments in the docket.

States Speak Up

NAB is not alone in making this argument. A joint comment filing from the 50 state broadcast associations says the industry “has been unfairly subsidizing its competitors through regulatory fees for almost 30 years.”

The associations pointed to a recent D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision, Telesat Canada vs. FCC. They said he court dismissed a non-U.S. licensed space stations’ challenge to the FCC decision to expand the base of regulatory fees to include such entities.

The associations said the FCC can no longer “robotically apply its outdated methodology for calculating the regulatory fee obligations of broadcasters.”

Observers note that the FCC has recently made changes to the satellite and earth station fee category, resulting in an increase in the fees charged to the satellite industry.

Advocates for broadcasters claim the appeals court decision makes it clear that the commission has the statutory authority to charge “Big Tech” regulatory fees.

“The FCC should begin the process of expanding its payor base to include unlicensed spectrum users that broadcasters and other licensees are currently forced to subsidize,” the NAB wrote in reply comments to the FCC’s NPRM.

The state associations also wrote that the Ray Baum Act (RBA) of 2018 makes clear that “benefits, rather than licenses, are the touchstone for assessing regulatory fees.”

“The RBA equipped the FCC with the flexible authority to assess and collect fees based on the benefit of the commission’s work, not on the increasingly arbitrary factors of whether the payor holds a license or how the commission has organized itself.

“However, each year, the FCC has continued to reject that notion, asserting that the fee assessment structure dictated by the statute fundamentally remains unchanged,” that state broadcasters wrote.

Individual state broadcaster associations have been communicating with the membership on the potential fallout of the regulatory fees increase.

Smaller Entities Hit?

The New York State Broadcasters Association stated on its website the FCC previously has exempted stations whose fees were $1,000 or less.

“Some stations, especially Class A AM stations, have historically been assessed a fee under $1,000, and therefore were exempt. With the new fee schedule, some stations that were exempt in past years could find they are no longer exempt and must pay a fee,” it wrote.

Oscar Rodriguez, president of the Texas Association of Broadcasters, wrote on its website: “TAB once again is pushing back on the FCC’s proposed regulatory fees for broadcasters, which continue to soar while tech giants like Microsoft and others skate free despite benefiting immensely from the federal agency’s decision-making.”

Since the FCC is required to collect the money by the end of the fiscal year, it has to collect the fees in September, according to attorneys familiar with the process.

“That means an order setting the fees normally is released in August,” said Scott Flick, partner at Washington-based Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, who filed the reply comments on behalf of the 50 state broadcaster associations. “The FCC needs time to set up the fee database with the correct fee amounts before the filing window can be opened.”

Flick said payers also need notice in order to arrange for making the fee payments, particularly when the fees are higher than what they may have budgeted for.

Melodie Virtue, communications attorney with Foster Garvey, said she is doubtful of the prospects for the NAB petition: “I fear it will take an appeal to make the FCC budge on adjusting the annual regulatory fees imposed on broadcasters. The regulatory fee setting process is so interrelated among the various FCC bureaus, and since the FCC must collect by the end of September for the federal fiscal year, I don’t see any short-term resolution to this issue.”

The post Broadcasters Face Higher FCC Regulatory Fees appeared first on Radio World.

Broadcast business software developer and service provider Marketron has named Christian Kligora as senior vice president of Client Success.

Kligora comes most recently from Gannett/USA Today where he served as VP of Client Success.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Marketron CEO Jim Howard said of Kligora, “He understands what it takes for an organization to do more than deliver a great product — to move forward into sales enablement, providing the training, resources and tools that clients need to sell the right mix of linear and digital advertising to help their customers get results.”

Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post Marketron Names Kligora as SVP of Client Success appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission this week reinstated operations of a low-power FM station at the center of a long running dispute over alleged interference to a nearby full-power FM station.

New River Community Church’s WYPH(LP), licensed to Manchester, Conn., has been the subject of interference complaints from Red Wolf Broadcasting’s WDRC(FM) in Hartford, Conn. Red Wolf began submitting letters of listener complaints of interference to its WDRC, which broadcasts at 102.9 MHz, in early 2020. WYPH commenced operations in 2017 at 102.5 MHz.

The FCC in April 2020 ordered the low-power FM station cease operations until it could demonstrate it was not the source of the interference. What followed was back-and-forth series of complaints, supplements and petitions filed by the two interested parties; and Media Bureau decisions that ultimately led to this week’s decisive ruling to reinstate WYPH’s operations.

[Read: FCC Resolving New England Interference Case]

The Media Bureau ordered the parties earlier this year to participate in “joint interference testing” to settle the dispute once and for all. The commission ultimately accepted test results conducted by a third-party independent broadcast engineer filed by WYPH, according to FCC documents released this week, after it determined Red Wolf was not cooperative in the interference testing.

New River conducted interference testing earlier this year and submitted its results in April. The on-off tests were conducted by independent broadcast engineer Michael Graziano and overseen by New River’s consulting engineer Tom Ray, according to the FCC release. The testing occurred at locations of the alleged interference incidents cited by WDRC listeners.

“We have reviewed the Interference Test Results submitted by New River and find that they demonstrate that WYPH-LP is not the source of the interference to the over-the-air reception of WDRC-FM,” according to the FCC. “Therefore, based on those results we will dismiss the complaint.”

The FCC’s letter also points out Red Wolf’s lack of cooperation in testing: “Subsequently, in a series of emails to Red Wolf, New River repeatedly sought Red Wolf’s participation in the on-off testing but Red Wolf did not commit to participating in such testing. Commission staff reaffirmed in an email to the parties that Red Wolf was obligated to work cooperatively. We find that Red Wolf’s decision not to participate in the testing with New River was unreasonable.”

The commission went even further to chastise Red Wolf for its lack of cooperation: “Red Wolf unreasonably refused to participate in the on-off testing as directed multiple times by the bureau and staff. In the future we encourage Red Wolf to participate in joint testing when provided the opportunity to do so.”

Red Wolf also claimed WYPH was using an unauthorized antenna that was not listed in its original construction permit. WYPH uses a two-bay Shively antenna instead of the four-bay Nicom antenna proposed as part of the station’s second-adjacent channel waiver request in its CP application. The FCC says WYPH notified them of the antenna swap.

In addition, Red Wolf argued that the WYPH license expired since the low-power station had been silent for over 12 months. While there have been previous such cases of license revocation under those circumstances “the commission may extend or reinstate such a station license if the holder of the station license prevails in an administrative or judicial appeal, the applicable law changes, or for any other reason to promote equity and fairness,” the FCC wrote in its decisive decision.

[Read: LPFM Facing $3,500 Forfeiture]

Those familiar with the most recent developments told Radio World they are unaware if WYPH has resumed broadcasting.

LPFM advocate Michi Bradley, founder of REC Networks, wrote about the New England interference case this week on her website. REC Networks previously worked with New River Community Church on its original CP application.

Bradley made following recommendations for other LPFM licensees based on what she learned from the WYPH circumstances: “LPFM construction permits do not specify a particular antenna make and model. When a second-adjacent waiver is requested, the applicant needs to demonstrate how a certain antenna can prevent interference from reaching occupied areas. While REC does not officially endorse this, if an LPFM station uses an antenna different than what they used in the exhibit demonstration, they leave themselves wide open for a second-adjacent complaint like this. It is important to realize that even if the station was built with the antenna used in the exhibit, they can still receive complaints. It would just be harder for the complaining station to make their case.”

Bradley concluded: “If you get a second-adjacent channel complaint and are forced off the air by the FCC, make sure that you cooperate fully with the Audio Division’s instructions and make every effort, even if the complaining station is uncooperative as was this case. WYPH’s cooperation in this case saved their license from statutory cancellation.”

 

The post LPFM Station Allowed to Resume Operations appeared first on Radio World.

Radio World’s Community Broadcaster columnist, and executive director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Ernesto Aguilar is heading for San Francisco to be the new program director for KQED(FM).

He said, “It’s been an honor supporting local broadcasters nationwide as part of NFCB’s leadership. As public media’s leading organization, KQED is a beacon of education, culture and hope in its community and beyond. I look forward to crafting the future of public broadcasting with some of the most brilliant minds in our industry.”

Aguilar was with the NFCB beginning since 2016. His last day is July 30. His first day at KQED will be Aug. 23.

 

The post Aguilar to Be New KQED Program Director appeared first on Radio World.

If you plan to seek a CP for a new noncommercial educational FM construction permit in the upcoming filing window, be aware that the FCC’s Media Bureau has released procedures and requirements.

The bureau also will put a freeze into effect for certain FM applications starting Oct. 5 until Nov. 9, the close of the week-long filing window.

Remember, this new station opportunity is just for proposals for the FM reserved band, 88.1 to 91.9 MHz. (Read the notice.)

In this window, an applicant can file no more than 10 applications.

The commission reminded first-time applicants that NCE stations are licensed only to non-profit educational organizations, not individuals; that NCE FM new station licensing opportunities are more readily available in rural areas and smaller communities; and that the FCC doesn’t publish a list of “available” frequencies or provide a “channel finder tool” to locate “available” frequencies.

It also pointed out that applicants usually hire legal counsel and broadcast engineering consultants to do frequency searches and help prepare the legal and technical portions of the applications. It noted that the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers is one available source for such help.

The notice also lays out the system that the FCC uses to analyze “mutually exclusive,” i.e. competing, applications, which is expected to come into play given the general desirability of FM frequencies.

Instructions on using the LMS electronic filing system are also available on the Media Bureau’s LMS Help Center page.

The post Procedures Are Published for NCE FM Window appeared first on Radio World.

Arrakis Systems DARC

The author is president, Summit Technology Group. This story is from the Buyer’s Guide section on consoles, routers and mixers.

When deciding to modernize, WJEH(FM) owner Tom Susman found himself faced with a litany of powerful and versatile AoIP options.

The Charleston, W.Va.-based broadcaster considered the workflows in place, and the mix of satellite and local programming aired on the station, before deciding upon the Arrakis DARC Surface.

Summit Technology Group was contracted to, among other projects, install the DARC Surface in late May. The setup includes various presets, all recalled with a touchscreen gesture to allow board operators to easily switch between satellite and live assist as well as configure the console for local baseball remotes.

[Read more Radio World articles about audio consoles and mixers]

“The ability to control levels and call a preset remotely makes the DARC Surface an invaluable tool for broadcasters with unattended studios,” said Dan Hills, senior broadcast and RF engineer for Summit Technology Group.

“Not only is this good for a remote air staff, but it makes supporting the product a trivial task.”

While the initial installation of the DARC Surface at WJEH has solved many workflow challenges, Susman is not done improving the station. Much of the studio gear, including the DARC Surface and automation equipment, will be replicated at the transmitter site for the sake of redundancy.

Hills also notes that the various customization features make installation of the DARC Surface intuitive and helps to save on implementation costs.

Info: Ben Palmer at Arrakis Systems at 1-970-461-0730 or visit www.arrakis-systems.com.

 

The post Special Report: WJEH Goes DARC for Remote Control of AoIP appeared first on Radio World.

The Bureau cancels the Notice of Apparent Liability and Forfeiture Order issued to Amazing Grace Church

.

.

.

.

.