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Fig. 1: Custom scripts allow you to change controls on surfaces or to create standalone mixing UIs.

The author is a support engineer for Wheatstone Corp. This originally appeared in the ebook “Console Tech 2021.” It is one in a series of articles about how to get the most out of popular radio broadcast products. 

Consoles come in all shapes, sizes and forms these days, from legacy hardware surfaces to the newer virtual mixers on a laptop and everything in between.  

What worked in your studio yesterday might not work today, and what works today might not work tomorrow. That’s where scripting comes in, both in terms of custom scripts for virtual mixers as well as newer hardware consoles with software configured controls. 

Creating custom scripts to change controls on console surfaces such as our LXE or GSX models or to create entirely standalone mixing UIs is one practical and affordable way to meet these constantly changing requirements.

Nearly every broadcast mixing surface or console manufactured has a set of standard features that cover 90% of the workflow or use requirements for a studio. Generally, these are: input faders, control room and studio controls, mix-minus sends, and logic I/O for tallies and remote control.

Fortunately, the world of audio over IP enabled us to make several improvements on these features. 

[Related: “How to Choose Your Next Console”]

The change from legacy console, where one wires everything to the chassis of the mixer, to a distributed or routed environment with Blades or other I/O units becoming termination points for routing, replaced miles and miles of cabling in some cases.

But even with all the enhancements the AoIP routed studio brought us, at the end of the day the console (or what is now called a “surface”) is essentially doing the same job. That is, mixing your content together and sending that mix on to the next process in the chain.

The job of the console remains the same, but what has changed is how the job is done — and on what.

Multiplicity of applications

For example, with scripting, you can change the default behavior of any hardware button, fader, encoder or OLED screen on the LXE or GSX console surface. 

This can be done in easy-to-use setup software, and changes to the surface generally do not require a restart of the surface itself. In addition to a full array of surface standard functions, users also now have control over button colors as well as the behavior of that button. 

A person could also actually write custom code using the Surface Setup GUI and the Wheatstone scripting language to have the hardware button do more than one function, and then change LED state (such as color) based on the status of whatever it was they intended to control or change.  

A simple example of this is to set up a button to fire a salvo.  

This is a simple point-and-click procedure using the LXE or GSX Script Wizard in the Surface Setup GUI. 

Setting up a button to fire a salvo is a point-and-click procedure using the LXE or GSX Script Wizard in the Surface Setup GUI.

Once the change is sent to the surface, the button becomes a Fire Salvo (macro) button. In addition to firing the salvo to change the audio routing, we can also change the state of logic pins on another Blade in the system and at the same time, change the button to a different color when that logic pin is in the ON state or activated state. 

What’s more, you can go beyond the Script Wizard and into creating a custom piece of software that executes the salvo and changes the state of the logic pin when the button is pressed, plus change the LED color of the button when that logic is active. 

All you’d need is to open the Script Editor and add a few lines of code, as shown below. 

You can can go beyond the Script Wizard, to creating custom software that executes the salvo and changes the state of the logic pin when the button is pressed, plus change the LED color of the button when that logic is active. Open the Script Editor and add a few lines of code.

As workflows and requirements change, you can modify salvos and more, and the surface will automatically update without the need to restart it or the mix/DSP engine.

In addition, with scripting tools such as ScreenBuilder, you can add custom screens directly on the console GUI itself. One of the main benefits of being able to build custom screen interfaces directly on the console itself is that these UIs don’t have to run on a PC in the studio, which most likely is already doing quadruple duty as an Internet/edit/playback PC.  

Screens can be developed using drag-and-drop widgets such as buttons, labels and meters that can be set up with logic controls that modify various aspects of the system for changing audio routing, on/off logic and tallies.

You can set up screens for not only one specific studio, but all of the studios in a WheatNet-IP audio networked system as a whole.  

Across the network

Let’s say you have five stations in a location, and there’s one person in the facility for overnights who monitors all five stations. 

From one control room, the overnight talent could call up a screen to see the status of all five stations at once and swipe through a menu to monitor audio from those stations and to get data from various points in the system. 

This can be done directly on any LXE and GSX console surface in any studio, so if the overnight talent is not in his normal position or studio he or she can still see the system from any room there’s a GSX or LXE. 

Also, these new scriptable consoles have OLED displays for each input fader and two or more for each output module. Each of these displays can be configured independently to display different data sets about sources assigned, program assignments, mix assignments and can be further customized for your own text and graphic displays.You can even add station logos or other images to reinforce station branding, and provide at-a-glance data to the operator.

Another software benefit is the LXE and GSX’s ability to have up to 32 inputs and 16 outputs in their mix engines. This means broadcasters have access to ample inputs and outputs yet are able to keep the physical fader or surface size down to a minimum. By carefully deploying layers to the surface, they can page a smaller layout surface of say 4 to 16 faders to get access to those additional inputs and outputs. This allows studio designers to keep a smaller footprint on the furniture and make additional room, or clean up an already crowded space.

When off-site, operators can also remote in to the studio or physical console using apps such as Remote LXE/GSX, ReMIX or Glass E. These are software extensions of the AoIP network or physical console that can mirror what’s happening at the studio. In some cases, remote operation can be done on an entirely standalone virtual console that contains custom scripting, all of which could be the blocks of the all-virtual studio of the future. 

Robert Ferguson has been in radio for more than 25 years, with experience both behind the board and in front of it as a broadcast engineer and on-air personality.

The post Benefits of a “Scriptable” Mixing Console appeared first on Radio World.

In its strong opposition to allowing geo-targeting on FM boosters, the National Association of Broadcasters told the FCC it is worried about “cannibalization” among radio stations as well as harm to smaller and minority-owned stations.

Radio World is excerpting public comments filed to the FCC in a series of articles. Here, we summarize the section of the NAB filing about cannibalization.

“Although GBS presents its proposal as a permissive option, even voluntary adoption by only one or two stations is likely to disrupt the advertising market for other broadcasters in the same radio market,” NAB told the commission Wednesday.

“In particular, allowing geo-targeting could thrust broadcasters into a collision that disadvantages smaller stations less equipped to absorb the costs of implementing ZoneCasting effectively or reduced ad rates. GBS’s own filings demonstrates the risks.”

It pointed to an example from GBS showing a high-powered station broadcasting from downtown Manhattan that could use boosters to create zoned coverage areas in New Jersey, Connecticut and on Long Island:

“Although GBS offers this image to illustrate the station’s opportunity to use boosters to geo-target news and information to these respective areas, the station would also be able to sell geo-targeted ads,” NAB told the FCC.

“It is easy to foresee the negative impact on smaller stations licensed to Edison, N.J., and Mount Kisco, N.Y., and other distant suburbs. Such broadcasters must already compete with nearby stations for precious ad dollars from grocery stores, car dealers and other small businesses in the local area.

“If the booster rule is amended, they could be pitched into battle against much larger, New York City-based broadcasters for this critical local business. And contrary to GBS’s claims, some broadcasters believe that any such opportunity to sell zoned ads to new customers will largely be one-way because smaller stations do not have access to the capital necessary to implement geo-targeting as effectively, or capture enough new advertising business to justify the effort.”

[Related: “GBS Gathers Support for Geo-Targeting”]

NAB also questioned the usefulness of ZoneCasting for stations in small and mid-sized markets. It said its members in these markets view ZoneCasting as a “big city play,” at best.

“It would be unusual for small and mid-sized radio markets to have multiple pockets of population sufficient to support the investment required to deploy GBS’s system. GBS points to certain radio markets that cross state borders or cover multiple economic areas where geo- targeting could possibly make sense. Again, however, most broadcasters predict that larger stations would enjoy the lion’s share of any such benefits, at the expense of smaller stations.”

NAB argues that “nearly all” radio broadcasters consider GBS’s proposal “as a lose-lose proposition in which the only winners would be the technology provider and advertisers.”

The association also disputes that geo-targeting will help minority-owned broadcasters, a benefit that has been mentioned publicly several times by Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.

NAB acknowledged that public interest organizations led by MMTC have expressed support of GBS’s petition. “MMTC explained that minority station owners often entered broadcasting later than others, leading them to locate their tower sites located some distance from downtown. MMTC states that ZoneCasting would enable these broadcasters to target different programming to different audiences, and adds that such owners may also be able to entice small and minority owned businesses to purchase less expensive, zoned ads.”

NAB said it shares MMTC’s goals to help promote minority ownership of stations but says the booster rule change would likely be counter-productive.

“First, a minority broadcaster with a transmitter on the fringe of a market would already have the incentive and ability to obtain a booster so as to provide a stronger signal into the urban core of a market. Given that the FCC’s rules permit stations to deploy a booster at their convenience, we presume that any such broadcaster has already done so where the investment has been justified.”

NAB said that any incremental ad sales to small businesses from geo-targeting would not change that calculation, particularly in light of the risks and costs of implementing geo-targeting.

It noted that GBS has offered to provide vendor financing to certain FM stations, fronting the capital to design, build and operate a booster, in exchange for a share of the marginal ad revenue it generates.

NAB asked what would happen if GBS encounters financial problems and requires accelerated payment, and what would the station’s obligation be if revenues are insufficient to repay GBS or the station discontinues service.

“We understand that vendor financing has been used in other telecommunications contexts. However, to NAB’s knowledge, it would be highly unusual if not unprecedented for the FCC to alter a long-standing rule in order to approve a new broadcast technology based on the promises of a single, private company to fund its rollout.” It said the FCC should not rely on GBS’s about vendor financing plan.

“Finally, MMTC does not address the unintended consequences that ZoneCasting could impose on minority broadcasters. Just like other similarly situated, smaller radio stations, minority owned stations could face new competition from large stations in other parts of a market. There would be nothing to stop a large downtown station, with the resources to fund its own booster and effectively sell zoned ads, from building a booster near a minority-owned station and using the booster to seize ad dollars from small or minority-owned businesses in the area,” it wrote.

“Moreover, a larger station could better afford to charge very attractive prices for zoned ads to win such business. In the end, ZoneCasting could be little more than a vehicle for large stations to increase their dominance at the expense of smaller stations, including those owned by people who are members of historically underrepresented groups. Such an outcome would not serve the public interest in diverse radio service.”

[Related: “ZoneCasting Would Level the Playing Field for Radio”]

The post NAB Details Its “Cannibalization” Worry appeared first on Radio World.

This week, the FCC designated for hearing the license renewal applications for a number of Alabama radio stations.

Why? Who better than noted Wilkinson Barker Knauer attorney David Oxenford to explain the situation.

Simply put, the stations owner has been convicted of felony ethics violations stemming from misconduct while he served in the Alabama legislature.

The hearing will determine the effect of those felony convictions on the character of the licensee to hold a broadcast license, Oxenford explains.

“The Communications Act requires that a broadcast licensee (and its owners) must have the requisite character to operate the station,” he says in a newly penned blog post at BroadcastLawBlog.com. “Character is reviewed whenever a party seeks to acquire a broadcast license, including when they file for the renewal of that license. In egregious circumstances, the FCC can even move to revoke the licenses held by a licensee outside of the license renewal process. Even the sale of a license by a party without the required character qualifications may be prohibited by the FCC, as the Commission does not want to see a wrongdoer profit from the disposition of what is seen as a government asset – the FCC license.”

Character has been defined by the FCC through numerous policy statements issued periodically over the last 50 years, and has been further refined by precedents established in individual cases. “This week’s case gives us the opportunity to look at what conduct the FCC considers in assessing the character of any broadcast application, and the factors that are reviewed in determining the impact of bad conduct on the ability of the applicant to hold an FCC license,” Oxenford notes.

While not at issue in this week’s case, perhaps the most common type of character issue that comes before the FCC relates to conduct before the agency itself. Oxenford says, “Misrepresentations or ‘lack of candor’ before the agency are serious offenses, as the FCC feels that it must be able to rely on the truthfulness of representations made to it by its licensees. As the FCC cannot verify every factual statement made in every application or other filing made before the agency, it considers it a serious offense if an applicant makes untrue or misleading statements to the Commission in any of its submissions to the agency.”

Similarly, he adds, compliance with the FCC’s own rules can be considered in a character context. “While the FCC generally recognizes that licensees are not perfect and can err in their compliance, a pattern of regulatory noncompliance can indicate that the applicant does not have the requisite character to be a licensee. In most cases, forfeitures will be imposed for simple violations of FCC rules, but more serious, repeated violations can lead to stiffer penalties or even the loss of a license.

Harder character questions are raised, as in this week’s case, by misconduct that occurs outside the FCC’s jurisdiction.

“In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the FCC arrived at a standard that is generally still used today, where the Commission considers not only broadcast and other media-related legal violations, but also felonies of any sort,” Oxenford says. “The Commission’s reasoning, as reiterated in this week’s decision, is that any serious crimes could indicate that an applicant cannot be trusted to follow FCC rules.”

FCC forms require applicants to list FCC character issues found in other cases, as well as all felonies, all media-related antitrust violations, fraudulent statements to another governmental unit, and any finding of discrimination. These legal matters need to be reported not just for the applicants, but for other businesses or activities in which the applicant’s principals have interests, Oxenford notes.

“In most cases, the FCC will not itself make the determination as to whether an individual violated some law or regulation, but instead will consider misconduct when it has been adjudicated by a court or other government agency,” he points out. “However, the FCC has left itself room to look at other egregious misconduct even if that conduct has not already been finally determined by a court or government tribunal.”

But in any case, whether it be a felony or any other misconduct, the fact that the conduct occurred does not in and of itself mean that someone is unfit to be a broadcast licensee.

“Instead, the FCC needs to weigh multiple factors to determine if the conduct is disqualifying,” Oxenford says. “The FCC will weigh factors including the willfulness of the conduct, the frequency of the conduct that led to the misconduct findings, how current the findings are, how serious the wrongdoing was, whether individuals with management authority over the stations were involved in the misconduct, whether there were efforts to rectify any wrongs that were done, the history of FCC compliance of the applicant, and whether there has been a rehabilitation of the applicant. This is a balancing process. An individual who was involved in some minor crime long ago, served his or her time, and has led a productive post-conviction career might not be disqualified from broadcast ownership. But other more recent crimes, or those that are particularly shocking to the conscience, can lead to a stigma for much longer periods.”

All of these factors are weighed through an administrative hearing, which as of November 2020 will largely be a paper-based process, rather than the previous approach of a live hearing before an FCC Administrative Law Judge.

“As with any area of FCC law, this article cannot cover the many nuances of the Commission’s policies in assessing the character of an applicant coming before it,” Oxenford concludes. “Suffice it to say that if an applicant, or any principal in an applicant, has had any issues in dealing with the FCC or any other legal trouble in any business or activity in which they are involved, consult counsel, as particular facts can make big differences in the outcome. Even in the most serious cases, there may be circumstances where a station can be sold or otherwise disposed of in a way to avoid a total loss that would arise from a lost license. It is a complex area that needs to be navigated carefully.”

MORE FROM THE RBR+TVBR ARCHIVES:

With Conviction Appeal Nixed, Former Alabama Politician Spins Stations Adam Jacobson By 2016, Mike Hubbard had built a sports radio and television network and enjoyed a successful political career as the first Republican Speaker of the House in Alabama in 136 years. Today, he’s embarking on a four-year jail sentence for ethics violations tied to his non-broadcast career. As such, he’s spinning his radio assets in a deal that’s bound to get a lot of attention.

As president of Stonecom Radio, President/GM Larry Stone oversees a group of four radio stations serving the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. Before that, he spent 17 years as an Executive Producer and game-day host of “Titans Radio,” the NFL’s Tennessee Titans Radio Network.

The broadcaster came to Tennessee in 1997 to build the new radio station group from the ground up. Now, he’s frustrated and has something to say about the state of the industry.

In short, Stone laments, “We are a crisis point in radio.’

And, his ire is fueled by recent flubs and frustration with syndication partners and networks his stations are aligned with.

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Thirty years ago this summer, a Class D AM licensed to Cambridge, Mass., was acquired by an individual who converted what had been a Gospel station to a blend of what is perhaps best-described as “light Adult Contemporary Oldies and instrumentals.”

Over time, the owner added an FM translator, and signals in Maine.

Now, an expansion to Cape Cod is in play, thanks to Langer Broadcasting.

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — Since the fiscal third quarter of 2020, The Walt Disney Co. has been, in the view of MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson, “essentially a tale of three different mice.”

Say what? It’s a metaphor for three profit segments Nathanson has closely examined, following Thursday’s release by Disney of its fiscal Q1 results — a performance that beat EPS and revenue estimates as Disney+ subscriber numbers soared to 94.9 million.

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The author is executive director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

Commercial radio stations over the last week yanked tracks by country music superstar Morgan Wallen after his use of a racist slur went viral. Cumulus has ordered an end to radio hosts circulating election conspiracy theories that fueled the Jan. 6 riot led by extremists. WSMN firing Dianna Ploss over the summer is one of many instances of stations booting hosts for racist behavior. And, the radio industry has watched as more than a dozen noncommercial licensees have grappled the last few years with accusations by former and current staff of abuse by leadership and veteran hosts.

To their credit, many stations today are trying to do the right thing by making it clear they want to be inclusive. But making things better means also being transparent about how radio stations have contributed to the condition the nation finds itself in.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: DJing the Generational Divide]

Commercial radio’s sordid relationship with the racial line is no secret. Take, for example, WFUV this week documenting the history of what was known as Black radio. Let’s be clear though. Black radio then was a term that defined the industry that had to emerge for Black performers who were banned by larger radio stations that played white artists. What’s now the urban format was, not too many decades ago, called Black radio. Even as late as the 1990s, radio doing a pop format marginalized or entirely avoided Black artists and art forms, such as early hip-hop. More pervasively, as Danyel Smith points out, Americans’ perceptions of “crossover” music and performances were shaped by white acceptance of Black performers.

And let’s not even get into commercial talk radio, whose most prominent name, Rush Limbaugh, unleashed the floodgates of bigoted hucksterism that still influences local call-in shows.

For all its notions of mission, noncommercial radio has plenty of its own skeletons. Consider the many stations in the 1970s to 1990s that shelved longtime broadcasts of a traditionally Black art form, jazz, in favor of super-serving affluent white audiences. In this quest, stations wrung out virtually all color from their sound; it was bad enough that Chenjerai Kumanyika called out “public radio voice” in 2015. Considering the generations-long quest to cleanse public radio of its personality and culture, is it really any surprise prestige brands like WNYC became the poster children for terrible bosses and discrimination complaints? Stations to this day still struggle to create more equitable relationships with staff of color and make inroads in Black communities.

Obviously, radio is not at fault for all that ails the country. Yet we can’t have it both ways, demanding attention for positive work, but assigning blame elsewhere when radio contributes or has contributed negatively to public life by reinforcing prejudice. Radio has historically had the greatest reach of any media. At a time when accepting responsibility is becoming more common, we have a rare opportunity to be part of tendency that clears the air at last.

Still, there’s a contingent that says radio’s failures are in the past and people need to get over it. True vision in leadership, however, means acknowledging and apologizing for how business was done before, and striving to be more honest in correcting our errors. It also means openly talking about it, and sharing with audiences the steps you’re taking now to be an organization positioned to foster an equitable future. Scores of industries now understand this is a moment to atone and spark new relationships with our listeners.

 

The post Community Broadcaster: Has Radio Done Enough to Fix its Racist Past? appeared first on Radio World.

Problems with station political files continue to make the list of recent Media Bureau actions at the Federal Communications Commission.

It appears that the staff there is continuing to work its way through a long list of broadcasters that failed to maintain their online political files correctly.

You’ll recall that the FCC had announced consent decrees with six major broadcast companies last July and that it subsequently rattled off a series of additional settlements.

In recent days the commission has announced fresh consent decrees with Times-Citizen Communications Inc., Powell Broadcasting Co., Zimmer Radio Inc., Bott Communications Inc., River City Radio Inc., Maquoketa Broadcasting Co. and Trending Media Inc.

All are essentially the same: The broadcast owner files for a station license renewal but the Audio Division suspends the process because the online public files aren’t kept up. The licensee acknowledges this and promises to institute steps including appointing a compliance officer, creating a compliance plan and reporting back to the commission by a later date. The commission meanwhile acknowledges that the pandemic caused a dramatic reduction in ad revenues, causing the industry significant financial stress, and drops its investigation.

Money fines aren’t involved.

 

The post Public File Consent Decrees Multiply appeared first on Radio World.

Educational Media Foundation‘s quest to have a presence in nearly every U.S. radio market has been one of Radio’s big headlines of the last five years.

Now, EMF is ensuring its presence in two key Midwest locales.

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John Beck is iHeart’s new top guy in St. Louis. The company named the award-winning radio veteran as its market president in the gateway city.

Beck is the former senior VP at Emmis Communications, where he had oversight of several St. Louis stations.

Katy Pavelonis has been the acting market president and remains as SVP of sales.

A recipient of numerous broadcasting awards, Beck is a former president of the Missouri Broadcasters Association and now chairs its Legislative Affairs Committee; he’s also active in the National Association of Broadcasters, where he has been a board member and served on the NAB Executive Committee.

Beck launched his career at WFFM in Pittsburgh. He’ll report to Tony Coles, division president for iHeartMedia Markets Group. Coles praised Beck’s local ties and “deep roots in both the media and advertising communities.”

Send news about radio management and engineering job changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post iHeart Tabs John Beck for Top Job in St. Louis appeared first on Radio World.