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Larry Langford

A young chief engineer who knew a lot more about computers than transmitters and analog audio systems recently asked me for help in tracking down on-air distortion that had affected his mom-and-pop station for some time.

The station did have on-air distortion. It was not terrible, just bad enough to notice, though the longer you listened, the more it irritated — a real turnoff for Time Spent Listening.

It sounded to me a bit like the audio was going through an amp with bad power supply filters, and it had a raspy edge on voice. But identifying the source of the problem by ear was difficult.

This was an AM station that had an FM translator mounted on the hot tower, a situation that can present its own set of challenges. The distortion was evident on the FM. But a critical listen revealed that it was present on AM as well!

This pretty much ruled out my thought that high RF at the tower was being rectified on the audio input to the translator and showing up as audio distortion. So it was time to take a look at the audio chain.

Clamp!

Pretty straightforward: Program was being delivered from the studio miles away, with digital uncompressed audio sent over fiber. It sounded good going in, and it sounded good coming out. Yet the on-air product definitely was distorted.

The audio was fed to the FM via a buried 1,000-foot cable to the tower. That line was driven by a pair of old super-quality Western Electric 111C repeat coils set up for 600 ohms in and 600 ohm line out with center tap grounded — the perfect way to send audio in an RF field. This arrangement no doubt had been set up by a previous chief who knew the magic of repeat coils for long lines.

Audio from the codec was connected to a Broadcast Tools switcher, then to the program line that fed the AM processors and the FM line to the tower.

I grabbed a handheld oscilloscope — something the young chief had never seen — and pulled the output connector from the switcher. I gave it a look on the scope with a 600-ohm load, and it showed nice clean peaks at about +8 dBm — looked good, sounded good.

I plugged it back in and bridged the line with the scope. Aha! The scope showed clipping with the peak levels closer to +3 dBm and a definite ceiling.

There was trouble here, but why?

Audio level on the coils was well under the +30 dBm (1 watt) design limit for the rugged four-pound 111Cs.

Still searching for the problem, I spotted a couple of black boxes where the cable leaves the building. These were Grommes~Precision TLS lightning suppressors.

When I looked up their data sheet, things started to make sense.

The TLS contains multiple stages of lightning protection. This unit is designed for protection of audio paging circuits with an RMS audio level of 1 volt. On a 600-ohm line, 0 dBm (1 milliwatt) is .774 volts, so with a level of +8 dBm (1.94 volts) the line level was crossing the clamp point for the TLS.

While the spec sheet shows a switching to ground level of 25 volts, the unit starts clamping just over one volt.

Us old guys

While finding this problem was a bit of a challenge, fixing it was a snap. With the drive to the line reduced to –3 dBm (.5 volts) on the PPM meter, things sounded great.

Another solution would have been replacing the TLS units with LLS models that have a pass rating of 6 volts (17 dBm), which is better suited for broadcast levels. But we work with what we have.

Now you might ask, why did the AM sound bad if the problem was on the FM stereo pair?

The Broadcast Tools switcher derives its mono output (used by the AM) by passive combining of L+R internally from the stereo output. So if the stereo line gets clamped, so does the mono line!

I suggested and installed a set of 1000-ohm buildout resisters on the output of the switcher, the better to isolate the FM feed, just as a precaution. With the 111C coils set up for center tap ground, the TLS might not have been needed at all; but better too much protection than not enough.

With the elimination of the distortion, the station was able to process a bit harder, increasing the loudness while improving the sound quality — a win-win for sure.

While I was there I couldn’t resist teaching my young friend to reduce the AM modulation peaks from 130 percent positive (yikes!) 100 percent negative, to about 90 percent symmetrical. He heard the difference and agreed to keep it that way.

The takeaway here is simple: Read spec sheets, and know how adding devices will affect your overall sound.

My assist call also underlined a growing problem in broadcasting. “Us old guys” know analog audio and issues peculiar to AM. The new “engineers” are not getting that knowledge, learning only about digital and computer networks. I hate to say it, but institutional knowledge is dying as more of us become silent keys.

Solution? Us old guys need to take every opportunity to reach one, teach one.

The author is chief engineer and owner of WGTO Cassopolis, Mich., and W246DV South Bend, Ind. Read more of his past articles.

Share your own tech tips or stories about how you solved a problem. Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Distortion Detective: The Case of the Irritating Audio appeared first on Radio World.

The pages of RW Engineering Extra are where the finest engineers hang out! Engineers like Stephen Lockwood, Cris Alexander, Jeff Keith and Jeff Welton, whose latest stories you’ll find here.

The FCC recently adopted new rules regarding RF human exposure limits. Lockwood, president of Hatfield & Dawson Consulting Engineers, discusses what radio engineers should know about them.

Keith of Wheatstone writes that there are many tools available to help quantify the performance on your air chain. Good Engineering Practice doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.

Alexander reminds us not to overlook the possible simple solution when we’re confronted with a problem. And Jeff Welton explains the beauties of ferrite toroids.

Read it here.

The post Inside the Oct. 20, 2021 Issue of RW Engineering Extra appeared first on Radio World.

An AM/FM combo, along with an FM translator, serving a small Ohio municipality is being spun.

That could explain the buzzards flying around the building, if you will.

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License Revocation Proceeding

From our People News page: Katz Media Group promoted Scott Porretti to president of Katz Digital Audio, a newly created position. He had been executive vice president.

“Porretti, a veteran of Katz, who is uniquely qualified for his expanded role, will continue to oversee all Katz Digital Audio offerings, manage relationships with an expansive roster of publishing and technology partners, and further the growth of podcasting and programmatic digital audio on behalf of current and new partners,” the organization announced.

Porretti has held several management positions there including senior vice president of Katz Radio Group and vice president manager of the Katz New York office.  In 2014, he was named senior vice president of Katz Digital and in 2018 was promoted to executive vice president of Katz Digital.

It said he led its digital team in making “substantial strides” to strengthen its internal technology and systems, and that he is spearheading the rollout of Katz Intelligence Manager, a proprietary audience system for the digital audio marketplace.

He will continue to report to Mark Gray, CEO of Katz Media Group.

Gray highlighted Porretti’s audio industry knowledge, team leadership style and “extraordinary vision in this marketplace.”

The post Porretti Is Named President of Katz Digital Audio appeared first on Radio World.

“After a lighter-than-normal content slate in Q1 and Q2 due to COVID-related production delays in 2020, we are seeing the positive effects of a stronger slate in the second half of the year.”

That’s the collective assessment of Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings, CFO Spence Neumann, COO and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters, VP of Investor Relatons/Corporate Development Spencer Wang, as the OTT giant released its third-quarter earnings report following Tuesday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street.

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Spotify said its Megaphone podcasting platform is now up and running in Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

The company said podcast listening in Europe now reaches 20 to 30% of internet users in those markets. It cited a report from eMarketer. Further, it said Euro podcast ad spending is expected to grow more than 50% by 2023, according to IAB Europe.

[Related: “Spotify Expands Audience Network”]

Megaphone launched six years ago and was acquired by Spotify less than a year ago.

Spotify said about 30% of the top 200 shows on Spotify and on Apple are hosted on Megaphone.

The platform provides tools for creating, measuring and monetizing podcasts.

The post Spotify Megaphone Is Open in Four Euro Countries appeared first on Radio World.

What is the role social communities play in influencing purchase decisions?

WARC, in partnership with TikTok and Publicis Groupe, came together for a just-released study that helps answer that question. Their work outlines what they say is “the huge potential for brands to engage with audiences and increase unplanned purchases by narrowing the funnel between product discovery and purchase.”

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Starting Monday (10/25), a pair of ABC affiliates in the Lone Star State owned by The E.W. Scripps Company will have a new VP/GM.

It’s an individual whose most recent TV industry role was as President/GM of the NBCUniversal-owned Telemundo affiliate serving Denver.

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There are several new social media accounts at the Federal Communications Commission. This is not in itself unusual, but these accounts have been set up by the FCC Office of Inspector General.

Its goal: “to aid in our mission of detecting and preventing fraud, waste and abuse, and promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the operations of the FCC.”

It now has a presence on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. The first tweets on the OIG Twitter account were sent in late July. The current inspector general is David Hunt.

In a statement, the FCC OIG noted that it is a small office with fewer than 50 full-time employees that “nonetheless is responsible for the oversight of FCC operations and billions of dollars in funds administered through various FCC programs.”

It said recent Covid-19 relief legislation provided additional billions of dollars in funding to the FCC.

“With the expectation that some of these emergency appropriations may become permanent, our need for assistance from the public to help us ensure this money is appropriately disbursed, is at an all-time high.”

The office said it hopes to increase its visibility of our office through social media, expecting that people or entities with helpful information “will come forward to assist us in furthering our mission.”

The OIG encourages people to call 888-863-2244 or 202-418-0473 or email hotline@fcc.gov if they suspect FCC-related fraud, waste or abuse.

The post FCC Inspector General Launches Social Accounts appeared first on Radio World.

Ed Woloszyn, the General Manager of dual CBS/Fox affiliate KEYC-12 in Mankato, Minn., recently died following a brief cancer fight.

Now, Gray Television has chosen the individual who will take over the station’s leadership role. It’s a woman who has been News Director for a former Quincy Media, Inc., property in Rochester, Minn.

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Shown is a 250-pound pumpkin with the hand-painted face of show host Dave Smiley.

Turkeys famously may not be able to fly. But pumpkins certainly can’t, and that means there will be a big SPLAT on Wednesday morning in Indianapolis.

Actually three big splats. The “Smiley Morning Show” on Cumulus station 99.5 WZPL(FM) will observe its 19th Smiley Pumpkin Drop by dropping three pumpkins of varying weights from hundreds of feet onto concrete.

One of the pumpkins weights 1,459 pounds; the station will also drop a 250-pounder and a 400-pounder.

“The smallest pumpkin will be painted with ‘Smiley Morning Show’ host Dave Smiley’s face on it,” the station announced.

“The largest pumpkin will be painted live onsite by artist Gavin Goode. Listeners will determine what will be painted on the pumpkin. So far, listeners have been suggesting a COVID-19 molecule.”

The event is free, and the station is inviting anyone, particularly families, to attend in or out of costume.

The show airs 6 to 10 a.m. on Wednesday at The Shops at Perry Crossing in Plainfield, Ind., with the three drops taking place between 8 and 8:35 a.m.

The post Indianapolis Station Readies Pumpkin Drop appeared first on Radio World.

Comrex has introduced a service that delivers conferenced audio from multiple contributors to the company’s hardware codecs in high quality.

Called Gagl, the service is cloud-based and allows one to five users to send and receive audio from computers and smartphones.

“Participants can connect and send audio by simply clicking a link using any common web browser,” the company announced. “Their audio is conferenced (if there’s more than one user), and delivered to a Comrex hardware codec such as ACCESS or BRIC-Link II. All participants can hear other participants, and the codec can send audio back to them.”

A promotional diagram from Comrex for the new Gagl service.

Comrex says Gagl could be used as the hub for a round-robin reporting program or for a “morning zoo” radio show to support multiple simultaneous connections at once.

“Because it offers low latency, it’s appropriate for call-in talk radio. Gagl could also be used to allow a single contributor to connect back to the studio from a computer or smartphone.”

The service will be available by the end of the year.

Comrex said the system is easy for users of any level of technical expertise to use and that the service provides stable connections with limited bandwidth.

“Gagl uses the Opus audio encoder, with a bit rate that delivers both voice and music in excellent quality. Gagl also delivers audio directly to a Comrex codec with all the stability enhancements, pro-grade audio connections, and features that hardware codecs provide.”

 

The post Comrex Introduces Gagl appeared first on Radio World.

America’s Public Television Stations is cheering the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Chair for recommending $565 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for Fiscal Year 2024.

This chairman’s mark, courtesy of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), will likely serve as the basis for negotiations with the House of Representatives on the final appropriations bills. The U.S. House of Representatives has already approved the same $565 million for CPB in the two-year advance funding for FY 2024.

In addition, the draft Senate bill providing appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies also includes $30 million for Ready To Learn and $20 million for public broadcasting interconnection.

“This is an important day for public television,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations. “We lost $100 million in purchasing power over 10 years of flat federal funding, and this chairman’s mark would restore much of that loss — and with it our ability to provide the educational services, the public safety communications, the civic literacy and the beloved programming which millions of Americans need and value.”

Butler adds that APTS is also appreciative of the $20 million in FY 2022 for the annual station interconnection account, and for $30 million allocated for Ready To Learn, a competitive grant program at the Department of Education that supports the creation and distribution of educational media content to millions of children across America.

In mid-March, the septuagenarian owner of a Class A radio station serving a rural portion of Western Pennsylvania returned to the airwaves after a short absence. His return was controversial: on November 16, 2020 this individual was placed on a three-year “restricted probation” for a series of criminal sexual acts at a sentencing hearing that most believed would save him from a FCC license revocation hearing.

Seven months later, the Chief of the Commission’s Media Bureau has spoken up. Roger Wahl is on notice that he could loose control of WQZS-FM in Meyersdale, Pa., as a Hearing Designation Order has been sent to his attention.

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When Gordon Borrell, the respected local ad trend expert who serves as CEO of Borrell Associates, sits down with four top radio and television executives at Forecast 2022, their  perspectives, projections and visions for the broadcast industry will likely be shared. A lively discussion of broadcast media’s opportunities, digital competitors and regulatory challenges is also expected.

What will they say? You won’t be able to read it here, or anywhere else, as it is an exclusive no-press session at Forecast 2022.

To hear what Borrell and his panelists have to share, you have to be in New York.

No press coverage. No recordings. Full freedom to express their thoughts with no cameras or microphones.

Who’s on the panel?

Caroline Beasley
CEO
Beasley Media Group Brian Lawlor
President/Local Media
The E.W. Scripps Company

 

Debra OConnell
President of Networks
Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution Bill Wilson
CEO
Townsquare Media

 

Don’t miss out on hearing what these top leaders have to say — along with the chance to see them face-to-face.

We invite you to register NOW to secure your seat at Forecast 2022.

 

Check out the Full Agenda Here.
Forecast 2022 is set for The Harvard Club in New York on Tuesday, November 16.

Register NOW.

Katz Media Group has elevated a veteran of the media sales organization to the role of Katz Digital Audio president.

Taking the new post: Scott Porretti. He will continue to report to CEO Mark Gray.

Porretti has been within Katz Digital for several years, rising from SVP to EVP of Katz Digital after four years in May 2018. He’s also been a SVP of Katz Radio Group, overseeing a sales team comprised of more than 250 people working across seven sales divisions.

At Katz, Porretti is spearheading the rollout of the Katz Intelligence Manager (KIM), described by the company as “a state-of-the-art proprietary audience technology for the digital audio marketplace.”

Gray said, “Scott’s in-depth knowledge and vast background in developing audio solutions across a variety of platforms has helped Katz grow its diverse digital offerings and proprietary technologies. Scott’s effective team leadership style, and his extraordinary vision in this marketplace, has catapulted Katz Digital to a place where it is now viewed by advertisers as a one-stop-shop to reach diverse audiences with unparalleled scale.”

On Sunday, it became known to viewers across the U.S. that Sinclair Broadcast Group had suffered a cyberattack, crippling newsrooms across several markets. This ransomware incident follows similar incidents at Cox Media Group, Audacy, Urban One and Max Media.

How could this happen? What should a media company consider to prevent it from happening in their organization — or is a cyberattack inevitable?

In this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, Lisa Plaggemier, the interim Executive Director with the Washington, D.C.,-based National Cybersecurity Alliance, offers important insight and intelligence on the subject in an exclusive interview with Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: National Cybersecurity Alliance” on Spreaker.

Cyber Threats and How to Protect Your Organization Cyber threats are coming fast and furious nowadays. Every day we hear of another ransomware attack or data breach, and it seems that the cyber adversaries are taking over companies unopposed. Cyber security expert Steve Morgan, founder of Cybersecurity Ventures and Editor-in-Chief at Cybercrime Magazine, sits down with Juliet Huddy for a provocative interview that will cover, in non-technobabble, how the cyber adversaries are doing it,  why people and companies are in the dark when it comes to cybercrime, and what they can and should do to protect their organization.

 

Attend this session in person ONLY at Forecast 2022!
For more information and to register, please click here.

Radio imaging, voiceover, programming, podcasting and jingles company Benztown has promoted its Custom Imaging Manager to Director of Custom Imaging.

Concurrently, Benztown has filled the Custom Imaging Manager spot with a 13-year veteran of Audacy’s Rhythmic Top 40 known as “Power 93.5” in Wichita.

Royce Stevenson, formerly of KDGS-FM in Wichita, is stepping into the role previously held by Thomas Green.

That’s the individual who in 2019 joined Benztown after serving as Audio Producer for the popular Australian morning radio show “Fifi, Fev & Byron.” Green was also Audio Producer for “Carrie & Tommy” and for multiple Hit Network programs across Australia.

Green is currently based in Brooklyn, NY.

During his 13-year tenure with KDGS, Stevenson was the Production Director for the station cluster and did station imaging for KDGS-FM and KEYN-FM, a Classic Hits station. He was most recently Assistant Brand Manager/Music Director for KDGS-FM, and hosted afternoon drive on the station.

Resource management software company Xytech has scheduled a four-day webinar series designed to showcase new features associated with its MediaPulse 10 product.

Each day of the series, scheduled from from Oct. 26–29, will focus on a different feature of the system.

From Oct. 26–27, a MediaPulse Overview is planned. On Oct. 27­­–28, time will be spent showcasing MediaPulse Personnel; on Oct. 28–29 company executives will highlight MediaPulse Transmission.

“Until we can once again meet in person, these webinar series are essential communication tools to the community,” said Xytech COO Greg Dolan. “With the version 10 update, MediaPulse provides every user with exactly the functionality they need, when they need it, on the device of their choosing, creating a reliable solution able to operate anywhere. Something the pandemic has made crucial.”

MediaPulse Overview
On Oct. 26, Xytech will host a webinar at 1pm ET/10am PT.

During this first webinar, attendees will learn how MediaPulse 10 simplifies scheduling, automation, asset management, billing and cost recovery for broadcasters, media services companies and transmission facilities in a scalable platform-independent solution.

MediaPulse Personnel
To be held on Oct. 27 at 1pm ET/10am PT, this webinar will showcase the upgrades to the MediaPulse 10’s Personnel Management features.

MediaPulse Transmission
The final webinar in the series will be held Oct. 28 at 1pm ET/10am PT.

To register for any of the MediaPulse 10 Webinar Series, please visit: https://www.xytechsystems.com/webinar/