Industry News

It’s a new day for HC2 Holdings Inc., which quietly installed a new CEO in late November and has been divesting stations that it no longer deems essential to an ATSC 3.0 spectrum play launched under former leader Philip Falcone.

Under Wayne Barr Jr. as Chief Executive, HC2 has sold TV stations to Weigel Broadcasting and, most recently, to Gray Television. HC2 is adding to more TV stations to the sell pile.

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

The author of this commentary is senior vice president, digital platforms for Xperi Corp.

As part of India’s Digital India initiative, which has a vision of providing increased digital access to its population, Xperi and All India Radio have been collaborating on testing HD Radio FM broadcast in Delhi, India.

In February, 2021, Phase 1 of the test project was completed and submitted to the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for evaluation. In addition, updates on the commercial operation of HD Radio in North America, including receivers in the market, broadcast service quality and overall operational progress, were shared.

The program has significant implications for considerably advancing consumer access to FM radio broadcasts, in multiple languages, across India.

The test program was designed to demonstrate HD Radio services in Delhi on 100.5 MHz transmitting from the Akashvani Bhawan site at All India Radio’s main offices. With support from ComCon and Nautel, Xperi engineers installed a VS2.5 transmitter and broadcast 1.2kW total power (120W digital).

The program demonstrated reception on eight different radio models including car radio, portable and home models, as well as the BeatBoy feature cell phone with built-in HD Radio function.

While AM broadcasting has been operating in India since the 1930s by All India Radio, the government broadcaster, FM broadcasting is a relatively new service.

The first India FM broadcast was in 1977 and expanded exponentially in 2001 when the Indian government allowed private broadcasters to operate stations. Since then, the government has issued a series of frequency auctions which broadly expanded markets and licensed frequencies around the country. As of 2018, there are 390 licensed private stations and 400 government-operated stations.

Xperi research demonstrates that FM radio and music content is very popular in India, with over 80% of the population listening to FM radio on a regular basis. And because India is a very mobile society, most of the listening is through the FM Radio function in cell phones.

This market is growing. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has an objective to move the FM band to digital radio operations. And the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) continues to support new frequency auctions and licenses.

The recommendations from TRAI in February 2020 advised the government to establish a policy framework and roadmap for digital radio in India. These directives are aligned with the “Digital India” initiatives driven through the Office of the Prime Minister.

Implementation of digital radio broadcasting fulfills Digital India’s initiatives vision for radio; HD Radio services will be key to establishing this much-needed, digital, world-class broadcast network to serve all the citizens of India.

While most other technologies are transitioning, or already fully transitioned, to digital services, digital radio in India has lagged behind. In India, radio has a long history of providing critical public services and important information, in multiple languages to the population. Unfortunately, not everyone has ready access to internet and data services, especially in rural regions.

But because HD Radio can easily and inexpensively be integrated into mobile handsets for ease of use, it can digitally provide real-time emergency and disaster notifications through cell phones across India’s multilingual population, as well as enabling access to national, regional, and local information and entertainment programs.

Xperi’s HD Radio broadcast and consumer products include comprehensive levels of testing and certification to ensure consistent quality of service for the industry, which will be of major importance to a roll out in India. In addition, Xperi is investing in monitoring networks to ensure HD Radio transmission quality once a broadcaster has launched HD Radio.

The HD Radio team will continue working to support technical evaluations and policy discussions with MIB and All India Radio.

Aside from addressing the technical questions, the important focus is the availability of affordable receivers. Existing product designs can easily meet the cost expectations for the market, and it is believed that further optimization of design and production process can quickly achieve mass market scale.

The post HD Radio and Digital FM in India appeared first on Radio World.

Get ready for another fiery day on Wall Street for Urban One.

The company on Thursday morning released its fourth quarter and full-year 2020 earnings. And … they’re spectacular.

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

The local TV via IP service that the NAB and the Big Four TV networks despise for what they assail as a guise is entering its 31st market.

Starting March 19, viewers across the Pacific Northwest’s second-largest market can stream 39 local broadcast channels through a service operated by a non-profit entity that’s rapidly expanding across the U.S.

In an e-mail sent Wednesday to its followers, Locast revealed that Portland, Ore., is its newest market — an addition that comes as the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament (“March Madness”) commences on ViacomCBS-owned properties and CBS affiliates, such as KOIN-6, owned by Nexstar Media Group.

Also viewable: Nexstar’s home for The CW Network in Portland, KRCW-32; Meredith Local Media‘s FOX affiliate, and MyNetwork TV sibling, KPTV-12 and KPDX-TV; Sinclair Broadcast Group‘s ABC affiliate, KATU-2; public media giant OPB‘s local PBS member station; and TEGNA‘s dominant NBC affiliate, KGW-8. Also available: ION Network; local feeds for Telemundo, Univision and Azteca América; and several digital multicast offerings.

The service is geo-fenced: If you’re outside of the Portland DMA as determined by your location services information, you can’t watch the stations on the 39-channel lineup.

The Portland DMA includes Clark County, Wash.; and extends within Portland to the capital, Salem, and to coastal communities including Astoria, where classic films “The Goonies” and “Kindergarten Cop” were filmed.

More market additions are on the way.

“We continue to work hard to launch more markets so stay tuned,” Locast said.

It also took care in noting that Locast is “a nonprofit” and relies on user donations “of just $5 per month” to support the ongoing operations and expansion of its “nonprofit” service.

As a non-profit, Locast believes it operates outside the scope of retransmission consent. That’s irksome to the NAB and every broadcast TV network, as their affiliates and owned stations are increasingly reliant on retransmission consent fees to offset a decline in advertising stemmed from the rise of local digital media solutions.

At 89.1 FM on the dial in one of the most beautiful places in the world is “Jackson Hole Community Radio.” It’s fiercely independent – so much so that KHOL-FM seeks new members by asking listeners to “support independent media.”

To learn more about this unique station and the continued importance of local non-commercial radio in the U.S., RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson spoke with knewjack, a.k.a. Jack Catlin, KHOL’s Music Director, in this new InFOCUS Podcast presented by DOT.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Jackson Hole Community Radio” on Spreaker.

In continuing remembrance of an important tower industry colleague, NATE and the Tower Family Foundation have announced the latest recipient of the Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship.

Alex Dodson is a junior civil engineering student at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Ind. According to a release, Dodson is “at the top of her class academically and excels in her major courses related to construction and UE’s structural analysis and steel design sequences.”

[Read: Colleagues Mourn Ernie Jones After Tower Death]

In addition, the release quoted Dr. Jim Allen, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Evansville as saying, “Alex is always one of the first to seek additional project information (RFI) weeks in advance, whether it is in a group or individual setting. Her design and analysis techniques are thorough and complete, giving great attention to details in safety and constructability. The UE faculty thinks this diligence and continuous pursuit for safer and “more-buildable” structures in her designs embodies the spirit of Ernie Jones as the recipient of his named memorial scholarship.”

The Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship awards a $2,500 NATE-funded scholarship annually to a junior or senior level civil engineering student at the University of Evansville’s College of Engineering and Computer Science

Jones, founder of tower analysis and maintenance firm Consolidated Engineering Inc., died in 2015 in a tower accident.

The post NATE Announces Scholarship Recipient appeared first on Radio World.

How to get the most out of your station’s stream will be the focus of a session at the upcoming Pro Audio & Video Tech Summit.

“Let’s face it, many radio stations pay little or no attention to the quality of their online streams,” said Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane, who is programming the radio track sessions of the free one-day summit.

“But streaming involves different parameters and requirements than your OTA signal.”

Attendees will hear from David Bialik about stream loudness, important upcoming AES guidelines, the use of metadata and the importance of audio processing.

Bialik is former director of stream operations for CBS Radio and Entercom Communications.

Since forming a systems engineering consultancy, he has advised various industries and broadcasters on integrating technology applications such as studio construction, computer networking, AoIP and internet streaming.

He co-chairs the Audio Engineering Society’s Technical Committee for Broadcast and On-Line Delivery.

Also speaking will be John Passmore, director of streaming and on-demand audio architecture at New York Public Radio. NYPR recently embarked on a journey to upgrade its digital streaming architecture to create more efficient, cost-effective and better-sounding streaming audio.

“John will talk about some lessons learned and key considerations, beyond DSP, when building a streaming architecture for public radio,” McLane said.

Registration for the April 1 event is free and includes access to the pro audio and radio tracks as well as the virtual exhibit floor.

The post Bialik, Passmore to Share Streaming Expertise appeared first on Radio World.

The Media Bureau has extended a temporary freeze, originally announced on
March 20, 2020, on the acceptance of any AM minor change application that conflicts with the most recently licensed facilities of four now-deleted AM radio stations in the St. Louis market.

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

Sinclair Television Group has announced that it intends to amend and extend the existing term loan B-1 tranche under its credit agreement.

This, Sinclair says, includes the incurrence of new term loans in order to refinance such term loan B-1 tranche.

This tranche currently has a maturity date of January 3, 2024.

The goal for Sinclair is to reach new term loans which will provide for, among other things, a maturity date that is seven years after the effectiveness of the amendment.

Sinclair notes that this credit facility amendment is subject to market and other customary closing conditions.

RBR+TVBR EXCLUSIVE

On Tuesday, it was widely reported that Global, the U.K.-based media company that boasts such British radio brands as Heart, Capital, Radio X, LBC, Gold and Classic FM, wants a greater stake in iHeartMedia.

In fact, its Washington-based counsel wrote to the FCC to advance regulatory approval for the acquisition of nearly 50% of non-voting equity in iHeart — five times what iHeart sought from the Commission.

RBR+TVBR has now learned that there’s a bit more to the story: iHeartMedia found itself in violation of FCC’s foreign ownership rules only after learning of Global’s initial investment.

What a company does when faced with a situation may be the biggest new concern for every publicly traded radio or TV entity in the U.S. today.

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