Industry News

Public media biggie WGBH is dropping the “W” in its name that long identified it as a broadcaster based east of the Mississippi.

Where some organizations might make such a branding tweak without calling attention to it right away, GBH went big.

“While its local TV and radio broadcast stations will always be important, the new branding recognizes GBH’s commitment to on-demand and digital-first content for audiences nationwide through streaming, apps, podcasts, social media, educational curricula and virtual events,” the organization stated.

It reported that more than half of its audience impressions come via digital platforms, so it dropped the “W” to “better reflect its leadership in the new media environment.” Affiliate WCAI becomes  justCAI. WCRB will become CRB Classical 99.5. WGBX Channel 44 becomes GBH 44.

The organization is a multiplatform creator for public media, producing content for PBS and partnering with NPR and PRX. Its studios and newsroom are in Boston.

The announcement was made by Jon Abbott, president and CEO, and Tina Cassidy, chief marketing officer. They noted that the new logo still uses a “drop shadow” design that dates to the 1970s, created by Chermayeff & Geismar.

And when you’re a really big public media entity, you can get away with delving into the fine details of how you updated your logos.

“The font will change to the clean and modern Red Hat, which functions better digitally,” it announced. “The iconic audio mark, also known as the sting, or the sound that audiences hear at the end of GBH-produced content, will not change.” And they chose purple as a new primary brand color, calling it “vibrant” and “digital first,” and because “equality, wisdom, empathy, creativity and resilience are all associated with purple and align with GBH’s core brand values.”

The station released a brand launch video, watch here.

The post Public Media Biggie WGBH Drops the “W” appeared first on Radio World.

Following up on an earlier story — after evacuating the company premises in Felton, Calif., as fires raged nearby, Inovonics reports that things are returning to the previous normal.

The factory is open, processing and shipping orders while tech support is up and running.

[Read: Inovonics Factory Affected by Evacuation Zone]

A relieved Inovonics CEO and President Ben Barber said, “Inovonics was untouched by the fires and though many of us had to evacuate the valley, no employees’ homes were harmed.”

The company says that if anything fell through the cracks during the closure, customers can contact them at sales@inovonicsbroadcast.com or tech@inovonicsbroadcast.com.

The post Inovonics Back From Fire Threat appeared first on Radio World.

This year has provided such unusual challenges to the radio industry. Yet the day-to-day needs of keeping a station on the air have not disappeared in the COVID-19 haze.

Those needs don’t go away. Meanwhile, the pandemic has created windows for some facility managers to proceed on projects with less interruption and to contemplate different ways of building future facilities while incorporating more remote workflows.

So we have collected in one package a cornucopia of new and recently introduced products, large and small, for the radio broadcast professional.

Read it here.

The post 2020 Fall Product Planner appeared first on Radio World.

This story is excerpted from the free Radio World ebook “Plan B: Ensuring RF Readiness.” 

A transmitter site is the narrow neck of a bottle — the departure point before the audience receives our product. At most stations, the site is remote from the program source and is unmanned.

“Hardening” the site must involve more than fencing and signs. If you’re serious about your business and your signal, your plant must be robust, durable and capable of self-healing.

Generally speaking we have three areas of concern: security, functionality and provision. Each requires that you identify potential points of failure (PPoF); develop the best solution or methodology to strengthen or eliminate the weak points; and implement those changes.

Of the three, I am most involved in provisioning: Does the site have everything needed to operate properly, optimally and continually?

The list of items that could take you off the air is endless. PPoFs that might be found in any plant include poor system design or layout; equipment inappropriate or insufficient for the task; poor maintenance; and insufficient spares for items that wear and can fail without warning. Then are the many potential points of failure specific to a particular installation.

I have written it so often that we should use an acronym for it, but: You cannot afford anything less than the best when that item is in the mainstream of your business. One can skimp on office trashcans and amenities or client lunches. But if a piece of gear is in the air chain, it has to be the best and operating at peak. The audience knows a station by what it hears on the air; the signal and sound had better be terrific.

Ask Yourself

Some nuts and bolts of power provision:

Is your site getting its power from the best feed — not just the one that is most convenient for the utility?

Is your power tap on the neighborhood feed, or the area feed? The former can add thousands of additional feet of wire and dozens of poles to your circuit — not to mention that your plant may be on a common primary and secondary distribution, which means that your supply is very communistic; every fault and suffering on the system you will get as well, including noise, poor regulation, uneven phases.

Sometimes the solution is just to move your transformer feed to the top conductors on a multi-circuit pole. If your power quality (PQ) is truly poor, you may need a separate feed from a cleaner, more reliable supply point.

How about your supply transformers? Properly grounded? If on a pole, properly supported? Properly GEP wired, or a mess of 14 neutral splices under a single wire nut? Phases balanced? Clean sine wave, or showing artifacts of square wave issues from overloading? Can you fry eggs on the top of your pad-mounted transformer when all the users have their HVAC running wide open?

Each of these defects indicates a potential point of failure.

Gensets

Generators are the next line of power defense and involve their own maintenance requirements.

Periodic maintenance is a must. This is more than punching the date card on the attached tag.

Generators must be tested under load … all the loads! If one generator supplies all site users, all loads on that generator should be operated simultaneously on the generator for at least half-hour, every month.

With all loads present, is the voltage solid on spec, and not sagging when motors such as AC compressors start? Is the output frequency 60 Hz? Will it operate automatically in the event of any of the five critical failures (loss of phase; phase reversal; high or low line voltage; and total loss of power)? Are the block heaters running? If the unit is thermostat-controlled, is the thermostat functional and set at the appropriate coolant and ambient temperature?

No matter what, every generator should be exercised on a weekly basis for at least 20 minutes.

Batteries should be maintained on an appropriate trickle charger. The batteries themselves should be replaced on the recommended schedule of the generator manufacturer. If none is given, the batteries should be replaced on a three-year increment, but sooner if exposed to extreme temperatures.

Calculate the run time provided by fuel stored on site. Extensive backup generation may not be much help if you need it for days and only have fuel for a few hours.

For many reasons, keep fuel tanks as full as possible. Emulate cellular operators who place sensors on tanks to signal that a tank needs a fill. This level signal is usually a DC analog; your remote control can use this value as an alarm limit. When the tank is, for example, three-quarters full, you can call the fuel service to top off. A second value could be one-quarter full, so that you will be kept aware of how much longer the site can run during a long-term outage. One of my clients has a remote control with an action program that calls the fuel service automatically when either of these limits is reached.

All tanks should be protected from such dangers as falling ice, and secured firmly with fences and spill sumps. Locks on fills are a good idea, especially during times when diesel is expensive and liable to be siphoned from remote unsecured fuel tanks.

We mentioned spare parts. For to the generator, you should have at least two oil and two air filters on the shelf, as well as a set of fan belts and a complete change of oil plus a quart. You do not want to go hunting for these parts at 3 in the morning or when off the air.

Read the author’s series “The Big Picture of the Small End of Power Generation,” about how to choose and install a generator:

Part 1: The Good, the Bad & the Noisy

Part 2: Sizing and Selection

Part 3: Pragmatics 101

Part 4: Putting It All Together

The post Hunt Down Those PPoFs in Your Power Provision appeared first on Radio World.

Content creator hardware specialist Elgato has launched its first microphones, Wave 1 and Wave 3, aimed at podcasters, recordists, YouTubers and streamers, developed in partnership with Austrian microphone manufacturer Lewitt.

Both mics feature a cardioid condenser capsule and an onboard A/D converter (24-bit/48 kHz for Wave 1 and 96 kHz for Wave 3). They also sport a proprietary Clipguard “anti-distortion” technology that Lewitt developed for the mics. This reportedly analyzes input in real time and automatically provides the additional headroom that is needed before sending signal on to the computer.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

The mics each have a steel grille for protecting the capsule, as well as a centralized control dial/button for adjusting headphone volume. On the Wave 1, a push of the dial will mute the mic, while the dial on Wave 3 allows users to also adjust input gain a mic/PC monitor crossfade.

The mics connect via a USB Type-C port on the back, located next to a standard 1/4-inch headphone jack.

Accessories sold separately for the mics include a dual-layer metal mesh pop filter, and a specialized shockmount with multi-adaptor to fit most boom arms.

Both microphones ship with Elgato’s Wave Link app, a basic mixer for tackling multiple channels going into a project, whether a podcast, game audio streaming, or something else. The software handles up to nine channels and can output two separate mixes simultaneously.

The Wave 1 microphone runs $120, while Wave 3 runs $160.

Info: www.elgato.com

The post Elgato and Lewitt Team for Wave Podcasting Mics appeared first on Radio World.

Logitek has added Dante digital networking as an option for its Jet67 multiformat AoIP engine.

Designed for radio applications, the company says that the Jet67 provides an option for broadcasters who need access to various forms of audio networking at an affordable price.

It carries onboard AES67, Ravenna, Livewire and Logitek JetNet networking to enable interconnectivity with most other equipment in the studio. Stations that also operate Dante-enabled equipment can also communicate with the Jet67.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

The power behind Logitek’s new mixIT touchscreen consoles, the 1 RU Jet67 provides multiple analog and digital inputs and outputs, mic inputs with phantom power, multiple mix-minus buses, and EQ/dynamics control along with routing functions. Logitek’s advanced touchscreen console, Helix, may also be operated with JET67 although some features such profanity delays are not available.

Logitek President Tag Borland said, “We designed Jet67 to take care of everything a small- to medium-market radio broadcaster will need, with no hidden surprises in the equipment costs. Other budget-minded mixing and routing engines require the purchase of external microphone processors, dynamics processing or even networking options. Jet67 has all of these and when paired with the mixIT surface, brings a highly versatile touchscreen console to even the smallest operation.”

Info: https://logitekaudio.com.

The post Logitek Adds Dante Module Option to Jet67 Engine appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission has finalized the 2020 regulatory fees for U.S. broadcasters, and there’s little joy for radio. See the finalized new fee schedule at the bottom of this story.

The commission rejected arguments that radio regulatory fees should be frozen at prior levels. It wrote, “The radio broadcasters’ arguments … reflect an incomplete understanding of the methodology that the commission has used for years.”

The National Association of Broadcasters, among others, had mounted a particularly forceful effort in its public comments this year about the need for relief.

[Read: “NAB Again Goes to the Mat Over Fee Increases”]

But the FCC said freezing fees for one group would have to come at the expense of other regulated parties. And it said an unexpected drop in the number of radio broadcasters from 2019 to 2020 means the remaining ones have to bear more of the burden.

But it did put in place some steps to help broadcasters whose businesses have been whacked by the pandemic.

We asked attorney Francisco R. Montero, partner in Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, to break it down for us.

Radio World: Whom were you representing in this proceeding about regulatory fees? 

Francisco Montero: I was representing a consortium of state broadcast associations made up of the Colorado Broadcasters Association,  the Florida Association of Broadcasters, the Puerto Rico Broadcasters Association and the Oregon Association of Broadcasters.

RW: What is  your reaction to this outcome and to the FCC’s reasoning?  

Montero: I was very disappointed by the FCC’s response. Our group as well as the NAB and other broadcasters made very valid arguments as to why the broadcasting community needs relief from regulatory fees during the COVID pandemic.

Broadcasters are lifting a very heavy load in serving the public and communicating invaluable public service information on multiple crises occurring across the country all at the same time. Broadcasters are concurrently suffering massive losses as a result of a collapse of advertising revenue. The federal government is providing assistance to businesses and to individuals during the pandemic, tangible financial assistance through loans and tax filing extensions.

The FCC has provided some relief from regulatory filing obligations. But when it came to regulatory fees. No such relief was offered.

RW: The commission did respond to calls for more flexibility for payors (like radio stations) in light of the pandemic. You described these as “wins” for radio stations. Can you list those and briefly explain in a few sentences what each one means for radio stations. 

Montero:

1. Simplified filing procedures for financial hardship waivers and requests for deferments, to make it marginally easier to request every doctrine or waiver of the regulatory fees.
2. Simplified process with no hurdles for installment payment plans, to enable broadcasters to request the ability to pay regulatory fees over time rather than in a lump sum;
3. Reduction of the interest rate charged for installments plans and elimination of the large down payment requirement. That this would be considered a “win” is indicative of how low we’ve set the bar. But we’ll take whatever we can get;
4. Elimination of administrative fees charged for late payments and for installments plans;
5. A temporary lift of “red lights” to allow for filing of waiver requests. If a broadcaster owes money from previous years they are slapped with a “red light,” which freezes their ability to file applications or request other types of relief from the FCC.

RW: What happens next in regards to the mechanics of these processes, like the financial hardship waiver? 

Montero: The order directs the FCC’s Office of Managing Director to put out a public notice with more details on the financial hardship waiver,  as well as the installment payment option (presumably to spell out how many payments or the duration of the installment plans).

RW: What else should we know?   

Montero: We’re still waiting for the FCC to announce the date that regulatory fees will be due. But most speculations are that the filing deadline will likely be Friday, Sept. 25.

The post Radio Stations Get No Relief on FCC Fees appeared first on Radio World.

The author is president of Communications Technologies Inc. in Marlton, N.J.

Thanks for keeping up the quality of the RW family of broadcast publications in this difficult time.

Just a quick comment. I liked your article “GroundLinx Advocates for New Approach,” and I do think it was informative and accurate.

The article did give the impression, my perspective for sure, that their grounding system was unique. It is not, and the chem ground approach has been around for decades. Two links as an example; see here as well as here.

The problem has been that, unfortunately, buyers do not normally want to spend the money to install these types of systems.

The post Letter: GroundLinx Innovation? appeared first on Radio World.

U.S. radio stations have two weeks left to decide whether to take their “lump sum” reimbursement in the C-Band repack.

Phones are still ringing like crazy at companies that are involved in satellite infrastructure.

“Over half of the radio stations still don’t understand that they have a choice for the lump sum,” said John Joslin of Dawnco. “We know, because we are talking to dozens of stations per day now.”

“They can get the lump sum if they file by Sept. 14 — otherwise only free filters and gear from the satellite operators,” he continued.

[Related: “Takeaways From the NAB’s C-Band Webinar”]

“I just spoke to a tiny little radio station in Arkansas who bought a new dish from us in 2016, which has a dual-pole feedhorn,” Joslin continued.

“Two years ago she registered that dish. Now she will get the $17K lump sum when she files for the lump sum by Sept. 14. Her only cost will be for the $500 phase-2 filter in 2023. She can put the $16K remainder in her pocket.

“If she had not heard about the lump sum program, she would have only received a free filter from SES,” Joslin concluded. “How crazy is that?”

A common question is whether a station needs to hire a Washington lawyer or firm to file, especially if they are accustomed to doing their own legal work for cost purposes. Joslin recommends using a qualified firm that has experienced staff and connections to process the lump sum filing. “It is possible to file on your own, but you need to find the needed documentation on the FCC website, which can be difficult. Most importantly, if you make a mistake, the FCC isn’t very forgiving.”

[Watch a free webinar from the Alabama Broadcasters Association.] 

[Read other recent coverage at https://www.radioworld.com/tag/c-band.]

The post Questions Continue to Fly in C-Band Repack appeared first on Radio World.

For gathering and reporting the news, capturing audio for film and television, or making sure reporters have each and every comment for a sideline interview — all with exceptional audio quality and RF performance, Shure says its AD3 plug-on wireless transmitter fits the bill.

The latest addition to the Axient Digital Wireless Microphone System, the AD3 transforms any XLR microphone into a digital wireless microphone. It offers wide-tuning, encryption features high-performance radio, and spectral efficiency, making it ideal for various types of broadcast reporting.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

Additionally, according to Shure, the AD3 was designed to provide portability and connectivity, all while still offering the reliability and professional performance that are synonymous with the company brand. Out-of-the-box, the AD3 includes a patent-pending locking mechanism with an XLR connector design, a user-friendly control menu, OLED display that is easy to read in poor lighting conditions, and a sweat, moisture, and debris resistant build. The transmitter also includes a pouch, belt clip, USB-C cable, and supports both conventional AA and Shure SB900A rechargeable battery options.

Shure says, “The plug-on transmitter enables field reporters, audio professionals, and on-set sound engineers’ access to a rock-solid portable audio solution that perfectly complements the power of Axient Digital.”

Info: www.shure.com

The post Shure AD3 Plug-On Handles Multiple Duties appeared first on Radio World.