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SANTA MONICA, CALIF. —In addition to serving as the Los Angeles home for HC2 Holdings-owned Spanish-language broadcast television network Azteca America, KJLA-TV owns and operates two greenscreen stages and production studios at its westside L.A. facility.

With growing demand from its studio rental clients for higher-resolution video acquisition and production, KJLA purchased four SK-UHD4000 cameras from Hitachi Kokusai Electric America, Ltd. (Hitachi Kokusai) to meet these requests and set the stage for future growth.

KJLA rents its studios to premium media and entertainment clientele for projects ranging from network TV shows and motion pictures to music videos and corporate video productions. Clients can use the studios’ in-house equipment or choose to bring in their own gear. KJLA also uses the studios to produce its own original content for its sister company LATV Networks, a bilingual media enterprise.

KJLA was equipped with 1080i HDTV camera systems but received increasing requests for 1080p “full HD” production, and also saw growing client interest in 4K acquisition.

“We considered upgrading to 1080p cameras, but looking forward, that would only buy us a couple of years before we would need to go all the way to 4K,” said Tony Solano, chief engineer at KJLA-TV. “People were already starting to ask for 4K, so we decided to upgrade all the way.”

KJLA took delivery of the SK-UHD4000s at the beginning of February. Three of the cameras are deployed on Cartoni pedestals, with the fourth on a Jimmy Jib Triangle.

“The quality of the Z-HD6000s was great but the SK-UHD4000s are even better, even when we’re using them to shoot HD,” Solano said. “I also love the depth of picture controls that we have access to, not only through the controller but also through the cameras’ integration with the Ross Dashboard software.”

While KJLA often provides camera operators with their full-service studio and equipment rentals, other times clients bring their own crew and simply use KJLA’s gear and space. Solano notes that both their own operators and client users have found it simple to get up to speed with the new 4K cameras. “The learning curve on the SK-UHD4000s is very quick,” he said. “While our clients’ crews are professionals, the cameras are so easy that I feel like almost anybody could use them.”

The exceptional sensitivity of the SK-UHD4000s has also been beneficial for productions’ lighting requirements. “The stage manager for our LATV Networks productions noted that they don’t need to do as much lighting as they previously did,” Solano explained.

Overall, the Hitachi 4K cameras have positioned KJLA to meet the evolving needs of themselves and their clients both today and in the future. “The upgrade was very smooth, and it has been a great experience,” Solano summarized. “The SK-UHD4000s let us better serve our existing clients, while giving us the ability to take on a greater breadth of new customers and projects.”

— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau, with reporting by Brian Galante

Sinclair Broadcast Group continues to lead the industry’s transition to the future of television, developing innovative solutions to meet its requirements for channel playout and live broadcasting.

These include a new 25,000-square-foot, SMPTE ST 2110 media operations center for Sinclair’s regional sports networks (RSNs) with cloud-hosted disaster recovery channels, and a large-scale ST 2110 production facility for its Tennis Channel featuring a cloud-based environment for pop-up live special events.

All were built around Imagine Communications infrastructure and playout platforms.

Don Roberts, VP of sports engineering and production systems at Sinclair Broadcast Group, makes the point that both business and technical requirements are driving Sinclair’s transition to IP connectivity and software-defined architectures ― and particularly cloud deployment. “This transition cannot be a simple lift and shift of legacy systems; it is the opportunity to take a fresh look at the way a broadcaster operates,” Roberts said. “We have to start from good user engagement, to understand what will change at each step. The transition to IP and the cloud is transformative. We can’t just flip a switch ― we have to redefine how the business works. This is change management as much as technology.”

A powerful advocate of the SMPTE ST 2110 family of standards, Sinclair has a long history in collaborating with Imagine Communications to develop IP playout and production systems. Following its 2019 acquisition of regional sports networks from Fox/Disney, Sinclair had to quickly develop a new playout strategy and decided to build an IP-based facility from the ground up to serve as a future-proof hub for the new RSNs.

“Armed with our experience with IP and our strong technical relationship with Imagine, we decided that our first step was to develop an on-premises solution for the RSNs,” Roberts said. “We also developed options to put some functionality ― like the archive and disaster recovery playout ― into the cloud. This enables us to use the Atlanta facility as a stepping-stone, continually refining the workflows and business cases that will help us transition to a hybrid approach that balances capability and cost.”

At the same time, Sinclair was developing a platform for its Tennis Channel, a service that features comprehensive coverage of the top 100 tournaments in the sport and more. The channel has a master control center in Santa Monica, Calif., which uses the flexible Versio platform, both on-premises for primary origination with Imagine’s ADC automation, and as software instances hosted in the AWS cloud for pop-up special events under the control of the cloud-optimized Version Automation system. IP connectivity allows simplification of the hardware architecture, for instance, through use of the virtual re-entry software features of Imagine’s Magellan SDNO to create virtual patch panels, router paths and workflows.

The Tennis Channel project presented Sinclair with a new set of technical, operational, and business challenges.  “Tennis is live and unpredictable, so we need our playout capabilities to be agile and responsive,” Roberts explained. “Software solutions like Versio give us that agility ― the ability to make a decision and have it on air virtually instantly. And because it can be hosted in the cloud, we simply spin it up at the beginning of each tournament and close the software when it ends.”

Central to the architecture at the Santa Monica center is Imagine’s Selenio Network Processor, which Roberts defines as “a broadcast Swiss Army Knife ― if you have a problem with a signal, throw an SNP at it.” Each 1RU SNP device hosts four independent, software-defined processing channels.  At the Tennis Channel facility, the SNPs act as IP gateways and support format conversion, which allows the facility to be primarily 1080p, but accommodate 4K and HDR UHD when needed, such as for the French Open Tennis from Roland Garros in Paris. The facility also uses the new SNP-MV multiviewer personality, allowing for tactical multiview displays to be quickly established wherever they are needed in the workflow.

The new Tennis Channel ST 2110 infrastructure debuted in December 2020. Sinclair then went live to and from the cloud during coverage of the 2021 Miami Open in March, marking the first time that any broadcaster had supported such a high-profile live sporting event via live cloud playout. The innovative combination of cloud playout and on-the-ground master control provided a solution that was particularly powerful in a time of COVID, which has challenged media companies to continue producing quality broadcasts, while ensuring a safe work environment for operational staff. The unique capabilities and integration of Imagine’s IP-enabled playout and core infrastructure products created a cutting-edge architecture and workflow that helped make this possible.

 

Digital Nirvana, a provider of media-monitoring and metadata generation services, has brought to market Trance 3.2, the latest version of its cloud-based application for closed captioning and transcription.

Trance 3.2 has several new features that the company says ‘will enable faster, more efficient production of publishable closed captions and translations.”

New features include upgrades to the tool’s natural language processing (NLP) capabilities that make it possible to identify grammar and style regulations and configure Trance to follow them. And thanks to advancements in machine learning, there are improvements to the machine translation model that satisfy captioners’ increased need for localization in multiple languages, quickly translating the content frame by frame while retaining the entire context.

“Our latest changes to Trance add a new level of completeness to the product in terms of covering the entire caption generation and localization workflow. Trance not only brings large-scale efficiency to each part of the process, but it also provides a platform where users can do everything related to transcription, captioning, and text localization in just about every imaginable use case,” said Russell Vijayan, director of business development at Digital Nirvana. “There’s no need for users to review the entire set of content in order to adhere to strict grammar and style guidelines. Instead, now grammar rules can be set as a standard instruction to the system. A 90-minute piece of content can now be captioned in a couple of hours versus a week or so.”

Trance is designed to use machine learning and AI capabilities to enhance the process of generating transcripts, closed captions, and translations for media content. Production houses, OTT platforms, broadcast networks, closed captioning companies, and any content producer that publishes content over broadcast outlets or the internet with closed captions and translations enabled will benefit from the following major improvements:

• The transcription window now uses an advanced speech-to-text engine that generates accurate, machine-transcribed text, which is displayed in a user-friendly UI through which users can quickly make changes.
• Users can now export the transcript, if required, and the time-coded transcripts can be used as metadata to make the video content readable by machines.
• While previous versions of Trance allowed users to input various parameters to tell the system how to split transcripts and present them in the captioning window, the latest update also uses NLP technology to enable transcript splitting based on grammar rules and styles. Every streaming platform has its own, ever-evolving grammar and captioning style, and adhering to those rules has been a challenge for captioners. The new change ensures users spend less time correcting things when splitting the transcripts for generating captions/subtitles.
• Now, all users with permission can upload media from their logins instead of waiting for administrators to do it.
• Workflow enhancements ensure users can access jobs directly from the list of available work items in their dashboard.

Trance can be a critical tool in a variety of use cases, such as generating transcripts for audio content, importing an existing transcript and syncing it with video, or importing existing captions and opting for a caption QC service that compares the captions against streaming-platform guidelines and flags any nonconformance. Users can generate machine translations after the captioning process is done. They can also import an existing-caption sidecar file, retain the timecodes, and generate a high-quality machine translation that would help with the localization process. Trance also makes it possible to change the frame rate, apply timecode references, and export sidecar outputs in various formats.

Because Trance is a cloud-based application, the upgrades are available to Trance users immediately.

Issued a Forfeiture Order in the amount of $3,000 to Jones Communications LTD, for failure to timely file a license renewal application for WVFG(FM), Uniontown, Alabama

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The Bureau enters into a Consent Decree with Karen L. Toole, Personal Representative, Estate of Robert Cummings Toole

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Low-power FM is creating some interest in Washington this week.

We told you a few days ago about a fresh proposal to allow LPFMs to increase power to 250 watts. That proposal, from REC Networks, remains open for comment.

But meanwhile the Federal Communications Commission seems poised to approve an order in a separate matter that would “affirm” the maximum power level at 100 watts. And comments by the acting chairwoman about seeking “finality” in the rules would seem to cast doubt on the prospects of a power increase anytime soon.

The draft Order on Reconsideration being considered for Thursday’s FCC meeting would affirm a maximum power of 100 watts in order to “maintain simplicity and consistency with past actions regarding the service.”

In 2020 the commission modified its low-power FM engineering rules to improve LPFM reception and options for station relocation, but at the time it rejected a request to allow 250 watts.

In the order to be voted on Thursday, the agency writes that it considered two petitions seeking reconsideration of those technical rules.

Todd Urick of Common Frequency and Paul Bame of the Prometheus Radio Project claimed the FCC had failed to adequately explain its rejection of a power increase; they also asked the commission to eliminate the rule requiring LPFMs to use transmitters certified for that use by an outside lab, a measure intended to avoid interference problems on the FM dial. The draft order leaves that requirement unchanged.

In addition, the draft says that the FCC will require LPFM stations to submit engineering test measurements to prove that their antennas are performing properly. The commission last year approved the use of directional antennas for LPFMs. The new measurement rule only applies to LPFM applications not yet acted upon, according to the FCC.

Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in advance of Thursday’s meeting that last year’s technical order “maintained core LPFM goals of simplicity, diversity and localism” and she hopes this week’s actions “will provide clarity and finality to the rules.” Whether that means the fresh REC Networks proposal would be dead in the water is unclear.

Rosenworcel also said that this order will “bring us one step closer to opening an application window for new LPFM stations.”

Legal experts will be watching the meeting for hints on the timing of that window. The FCC has indicated that it would follow on the heels of its new noncommercial FM window scheduled for November. The previous LPFM filing window was in 2013.

According to the latest FCC data, there are just over 2,100 licensed LPFM broadcast stations in the United States.

[In other regulatory news: FCC Throws Lifeline to an FM6 Station]

 

The post FCC Seems Set to Affirm 100-Watt LPFM Limit appeared first on Radio World.

The “premium” connected TV/OTT advertising platform designed for regional and local advertisers launched by TEGNA that as of 2020 sees Gray Television as a minority stakeholder has widened its partnership with IHS Markit.

The move is designed to bring Polk data to Connected TV and OTT campaigns for automotive advertisers — something broadcast TV should very much take note of.

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There’s a new individual in charge of the day-to-day operations at a pair of Nexstar Media Group TV stations in market No. 142 — a role that also involves management of Vaughn Media’s dual ABC/The CW affiliate serving Kansas’ state capital.

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The latest Media Monitors Spot 10 Radio report is out, and it shows a job search website building a formidable lead over all other comers.

It speaks strongly of the long-term category potential for job seeker websites, and of the pressures of auto insurance brands to wisely divide their ad budgets between national radio and other forms of media.

Indeed is the big spot radio leader for the week ending June 13 with some 54,165 spot plays. This is far above the No. 2 advertiser by spot count, Progressive. 

Meanwhile, big advertisers such as The Home Depot and GEICO are much lower in play count than Indeed, setting the stage for a full category development opportunity for traditional radio.

 

There’s perhaps no bigger category at linear media today than auto insurers. And, there’s a fierce fight for supremacy shaping up at Spot Cable.

Based on the latest data from Media Monitors, of the three brands in this hot advertising category, Liberty Mutual Insurance is the one that finishes at the top.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The NAB Leadership Foundation has elected to present its 2021 Corporate Leadership Award to Procter & Gamble — an honor the leading linear media advertiser will receive during the televised Celebration of Service to America Awards, airing July 10 on selected broadcast stations.

The Corporate Leadership Award is given to a leading business outside of the broadcast industry that, the NABLF says, exemplifies an extraordinary focus on community service and corporate social responsibility.

“Through products, programs and philanthropy, P&G generously provides for vulnerable communities and individuals in need,” NAB Leadership Foundation President Michelle Duke said. “In honor of P&G’s commitment to building a better world today and for the next generation, we are pleased to present them with our Corporate Leadership Award.”

During the pandemic, P&G worked to support and safeguard communities. The company donated tens of millions of dollars in product, in kind and cash to help ensure families had access to everyday cleaning, health and hygiene essentials, and supported nursing homes, shelters, community groups, food banks and other relief agencies. P&G also modified manufacturing equipment to produce hand sanitizer in nearly a dozen of its global manufacturing sites, helped produce critically needed non-medical face masks in the early months of the pandemic, and leveraged its marketing expertise to support public health measures.

Like broadcasters, P&G is also dedicated to helping communities during and after natural disasters. For example, P&G launched “Tide Loads of Hope” in 2005 to provide those displaced by Hurricane Katrina with a simple need—freshly cleaned laundry. Since its inception, the mobile laundry program has provided 68,000 loads of laundry to more than 90,000 people affected by natural disasters. During the pandemic, Tide Cleaners in the U.S. also provided free laundry services for frontline responders.

“P&G people believe we have a responsibility to society,” P&G’s Chief Communications Officer Damon Jones said. “We will continue to step up and step forward to use our reach and resources to be both a force for good and a force for growth in a way that will have a lasting, positive impact on people and communities around the world.”

Speaking on Monday (6/14) at the Credit Suisse 23rd Annual Communications Conference, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell announced that NBCUniversal has officially completed its Upfront.

This led the company’s Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships, Linda Yaccarino, to pen her observations of how the 2021 Upfront sets the stage for the future.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fourteen members of the House of Representatives and a trio of Senators have added their support to the Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA) — a resolution opposing “any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge” on local broadcast radio stations.

This raises the number of co-sponsors to 138 in the House and 18 in the Senate.

Adding their support recently for the Local Radio Freedom Act in the House are Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI-1), Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8), John Carter (R-TX-31), Liz Cheney (R-WY-AL), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-4), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6), Trent Kelly (R-MS-1), Darin LaHood (R-IL-18), Frank Mrvan (D-IN-1), Amata Radewagen (R-AS-DL), Tom Rice (R-SC-7), Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-2) and Chris Stewart (R-UT-2). Adding their support for the resolution in the Senate are Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN), John Hoeven (R-ND) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS).

Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) and Steve Womack (R-AR-3) are the principal cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act in the House of Representatives. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and John Barrasso (R-WY) are the lead cosponsors of a companion resolution in the Senate.

And, it has the support of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). The group expressed their thoughts penned Friday (6/11) in a letter to Congressional leaders.

Specifically, the NRB asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to support the LRFA in order to “protect local radio stations that play music as part of their programming from having to pay new performance royalties that would cripple, and in some cases decimate, the ability of such radio stations to continue operations.”

“Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station broadcast over the air,” reads the Local Radio Freedom Act.

Vincent Létang, the EVP of Global Market Research at MAGNA, has some downright exuberant things to say about the post-pandemic global advertising recovery that’s already underway for linear and digital media.

“As [the] economic recovery is stronger and faster than anticipated in several of the world’s largest ad markets — the U.S., U.K. and China, in particular — and consumption accelerates, brands need to reconnect with consumers,” he says.

Here in the states, that will yield the highest growth rate for the advertising market since the earliest days of the Reagan administration — an era of high interest rates for home buyers and a recessionary atmosphere fueled by “Reaganomics.”

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