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I am a systems engineering consultant and chair for the Audio Engineering Society’s Technical Committee for Broadcast and Online Delivery.

Previously, I was director of stream operations for CBS Radio and then held the same position at Entercom. In these roles, I was responsible for setting up and maintaining over 300 streams.

Early on at CBS Radio, we were doing streams the same way as everyone else, with old PCs and without much priority. Eventually, management asked us to try to find a better solution to manage our streaming content.

We searched and spoke with a number of companies, but nobody could provide the exact solution that we were looking for. In 2014 I went to the AES convention in Los Angeles and after one session I got several members of Telos Alliance together in the back of a conference room and explained how CBS needed a new solution for streaming.

At the end of the day, it turned out we had similar goals for a new streaming platform. I dubbed the meeting a success and came back to New York and worked with Telos’ team over many months providing input and feedback on the project. After a little more than a year, the Telos Z/IPStream R/2 was born.

We started installing them in all the CBS stations. The rollout was a complete success and has continued to be for all the projects I have used the R/2 on since.

R/2 comes with Omnia three-band processing “in the box,” with optional Omnia.9 processing, allowing me to create unique and great-sounding individual presets for each stream.

Having the power of Omnia processing lets me tweak each one to sound amazing as well as staying within the specifications of AES TD-1004, the AES recommendation for the loudness of audio streaming and network file playback.

Remote operation is smooth as the design was always meant to be controlled and configured by a web GUI. With the Supermicro IPMI control port, the system can be cold-booted. As long as the facility’s firewall rules are configured for proper access, nobody has to be onsite.

The advent of smart speakers has caused unprecedented growth in stream listening. It is one of the fastest-adopted new technologies in our lifetimes. It has brought audio listening back into the home and is driving further expansion into mobile.

In my role chairing the Audio Engineering Society’s Technical Committee for Broadcast and Online Delivery, we are looking into recommendations for stream loudness. We believe it is very important to set the stream content and any injected interstitial to a standard loudness. Not only are these jumps jarring, but forcing listeners to take action to adjust the volume level also opens the door for them to turn off the stream.

The Z/IPStream R/2 is the first streaming appliance to be designed from the ground up as a broadcast stream transmitter. With its built-in redundancy, it is truly the broadcaster’s friend, and I have not worked with an engineer who has been unhappy with this product after I install it.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

For information on this product, contact Cam Eicher at The Telos Alliance in Ohio at 1-216-241-7225 or visit www.telosalliance.com.

The post User Report: Z/IPStream R/2 Offers Power, Reliability appeared first on Radio World.

What’s the best way for broadcasters to get the word out about COVID-19 vaccines? That’s the question to be explored by a research project that the NAB will participate in.

The National Association of Broadcasters and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute announced a “nationwide research project to identify effective COVID-19 vaccine education messaging.”

[Read: NAB Ad Campaign Emphasizes Local Broadcasting]

They said the findings will help in development of a “toolkit” for radio and TV broadcasters and other journalists “to craft public health messages and educational programming that will best resonate with their communities.”

The project will be conducted by consulting firm SmithGeiger. It will do a national survey that the organizers call a first: looking into “the challenges and opportunities facing local and national media presented by the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.”

NAB and RJI want to put out a toolkit for broadcasters and other journalists “that provides messaging guidance focused on a local and regional approach rather than relying solely on a national message.” It is expected to be released early next year in English and Spanish languages.

The post NAB Explores “Vaccine Education Messaging” appeared first on Radio World.

In:Quality, which specializes in remote broadcast products and services, is highlighting a partnership with Radio France that it says has driven updates to its firmware.

“A new device from In:Quality, the USB SIP Codec, was seen by Radio France as a potential solution to help their teams to connect from home, with just a USB microphone, and their home broadband internet,” the company stated.

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

It said the Radio France Innovation department invited In:Quality to collaborate with Sandbox, Radio France’s “open innovation” program, running tests in connecting with their in-house SIP service.

“There was some urgency — due to the ongoing pandemic — and so a relationship was quickly established, tests were carried out, and the results were very positive,” In:Quality stated in a press release.

Founding Director Kevin Leach said the feedback from those tests has been incorporated in an update to the firmware. Improvements include a clock on the screen and the ability to mute the microphone for coughing. The layout and error handling also are improved.

The company said it is preparing improved cases for the USB SIP Codec. “One version makes for a similar-looking device, but which looks and feels more professional, with neater ports and branding. The other new version will include XLR sockets, for connecting analog microphones, or to hook up to a studio mixer’s line-level connectors.”

The post In:Quality Updates USB SIP Codec appeared first on Radio World.

Bill Hendrich will retire from Cox Media Group at the end of the year. He is the executive VP who oversees programming, operations and sales for the company’s 65 radio stations across 11 markets.

The announcement was made by President/CEO Dan York, who saluted Hendrich for his “exceptional passion, focus and leadership.”

[Read: Daniel York Named Cox Media Group President and CEO]

Hendrich was quoted in the announcement, “For the past 31 years, I have been able to work with the best and most talented team in the radio industry. With NewCity Communications, Cox Enterprises and Apollo, I have been a part of three outstanding companies, each bringing valuable and innovative ideas to keep radio viable in today’s media landscape.” He’ll continue to help out in an advisory capacity.

Among his past roles, he led integrated radio and TV in multiple major media markets for CMG. He headed its Healthcare Acceleration efforts that focused on the healthcare sector. He previously was VP and market manager of the company’s six-station group in Jacksonville, Fla. He also was VP and GM of WDBO(AM) and WWKA(FM) in Orlando for 10 years and oversaw the internet sales and operations for CMG Orlando.

The post Hendrich Will Retire From Cox appeared first on Radio World.

The author is vice president, business development, for Orban Labs.

A long time ago, on a planet far away in a different galaxy and another lifetime, there were Arbitron (now Nielsen) paper diaries.

These were manually filled out by “listeners” to indicate which radio station(s) they listened to and for how long.

Technology marched on, and in the age of PCs and smartphones, the thought of filling out diaries manually felt like using stone tablets and chisels. So Arbitron designed a system to encode a radio station’s audio with a series of low-level tones that a device called a Personal People Meter would hear and log.

All that Arbitron “listeners” would have to do was carry the PPM device and, at the end of the day, put it into its charger, which would transmit the listening data back to Arbitron for processing. Brilliant!

Arbitron built the encoders, which resided in the station’s audio chain. The encoder looked at the audio and, if there was sufficient audio, generated the tones that the PPM device heard.

Processing manufacturers took a look at how they might be able to work with the encoder, and many provided an “encoder loop” that let the station put the encoder in between portions of the processor processing chain.

In many processors the “encoder loop” was placed after the input AGC and before the multi-band processing. This fed the encoder with more uniform audio levels and could potentially improve the encoder’s ability to encode the audio.

Take It On-Board

A decade later, in the era of AI and really smart phones, Nielsen, along with the NAB, approached processing manufacturers to see if they were interested in having the PPM encoding done in the audio processor.

This would eliminate the external encoding hardware plus the processor encoding loop and make life easier for stations. Also, there might be the ability to place the encoder in places that weren’t practical with an external encoder.

Nielsen assembled a team that developed a PPM encoding Software Development Kit (SDK) for both X86 and ARM solutions, and worked extensively with processor manufacturers on implementation.

Timing worked out well for us at Orban as we had engineering resources that had become available right at the time the SDK was ready, and our new XPN-AM platform was an ideal candidate for the X86 implementation.

Bob Orban and the engineering team looked at where the best location in the processing chain should be for the encoder, taking into account the need to support both analog AM and HD Radio, and potentially all-digital AM, along with streaming or an FM translator.

This resulted in using two encoder instances, one for analog and the other for all other digital services. Within 90 days we had a stable XPN-AM build with integrated PPM encoders.

Once the encoders were implemented in our XPN-AM software, a stringent testing process was done with hundreds of audio test files being processed and checked by Nielsen.

After the test files hit 100% approval, the next phase was beta on-air testing. These test sites had to have sufficient audience to generate enough testing granularity to assure valid results. Also, station management had to buy into the tests, the testing had to be coordinated with a Nielsen rating “book” period.

The Beta Process

I hit the road and installed all of the XPN-AM PPM beta test units at KHTK in Sacramento, KSL in Salt Lake City, KKYX in San Antonio and WSB in Atlanta.

Setup included adjusting proper modulation levels, checking HD Radio blend and diversity delay settings for KHTK and KSL along with doing drive listening in everything from vehicles ranging from a Mercedes Benz (borrowed from the morning drive host) to Jeeps, pickups and everything in between.

“Golden Ear” listeners, GMs and PDs were all polled and processor settings such as EQ and density were tweaked as desired by each of the stations.

We also did some experimenting with MDCL (since we could). At KSL we increased the amount of MDCL from 3 dB to 5 dB AMC without impacting fringe coverage because of the higher modulation density. It was interesting to see the forward power running about 17 kW with a 50 kW setpoint. The DOE said that would pay for the processor in power savings alone.

The critical part of the testing — the PPM encoding — was thoroughly tested. We were able to confirm with Nielsen that the correct IDs were being encoded. This included separate testing for stations that were running AM HD Radio.

Beta testing went live on Oct. 8 without any issues, and the feedback from both the stations and Nielsen has been highly positive, so much so that we have decided to provide PPM encoding at no extra charge in our XPN-AM starting immediately.

Orban’s engineers always enjoy a good challenge — in this case, producing viable internal PPM encoding in record time — and as usual they delivered, thanks to Bob and his team.

Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.

The post Making PPM Encoding Easier appeared first on Radio World.

From our “Radio Doing Good” page:

The morning show “Hawkeye in the Morning,” heard on “New Country 96.3,” KSCS(FM) in Dallas/Ft. Worth, held its second annual 10,000 for the Troops holiday card drive.

The Cumulus station partnered with Support Our Soldiers to send the holiday cards to “high risk” units/individuals that are in isolated areas or do not have support coming from home.

Mark “Hawkeye” Louis said the station had collected more than 46,000 cards as of the beginning of December.

The campaign kicked off in early with the goal of collecting 10,000 cards. Listeners and supporters were able to mail cards to the station or take them to several locations including a T-Mobile Experience Store, Gigi’s Cupcakes and Sun & Ski Sports stores.

The post Dallas Station Gathers Cards for Soldiers appeared first on Radio World.

The renewal of a Baton Rouge, La., translator is pitting one FM station against one another over issues of interference and whether or not the translator is operating within the parameters of its license.

In July 2020, the licensee Radio & Investments Inc. (R&I) — licensee of station KDDK(FM) in Addis, La. —  submitted an instant Petition to Deny over the application renewal status of an FM translator. R&I said that FM translator W234DH, licensed to Crocodile Broadcasting Corp. (and bundled in with the renewal application of Crocodile station KGLA(AM) in Norco, La.), should be flagged by the FCC for several irregularities — including the claim that Crocodile had not yet finalized construction of the FM translator’s facilities when it specified and that the installed antenna was not directional as was authorized under its license.

[Read: Battle Lines Are Drawn in Translator Interference Rules Order]

Subsequent research also suggested that the W234DH translator is operating as much as 40 times over its minima, a source said.

An engineering statement submitted with the petition said that the facility is not operating consistent with its license. According to R&I, a 16.1 dB difference between the authorized output power and the observed output power indicates that W234DH’s signal strength in Baton Rouge is many times more than it should be.

“It is clear that there is a consistent pattern demonstrated by Crocodile to ignore the commission’s rules,” R&I said in its filing.

In its filing, R&I pointed to the commission’s reliance on character as a key element of licensing. “In light of the licensee’s execution of the renewal application, which did not reveal that the constructed facility was once again at variable with its license, Crocodile would be hard pressed to make the argument that it did not have intent,” R&I said.

Crocodile responded by rejecting the bulk of R&I’s petition, saying that R&I’s petition was defective and without merit for several reasons. Crocodile said that the filing was untimely because it had been filed more than two months after the filing deadline. The licensee also said that R&I’s claims that W234DH is operating at power in excess than authorized is false. R&I is relying on faulty field strength measurements, Crocodile said in its filing.

Crocodile also defended its character by saying that R&I failed to provide any factual evidence that Crocodile was attempting to deceive the commission.

An attorney representing Crocodile told Radio World that they did not wish to comment on the proceedings beyond what has been filed with the commission.

In May 2019, the FCC released new guidelines for resolving FM translator interference complaint issues such as these, though some stakeholders have expressed concern about the ways in which the commission determines interference.

The post FM Translator Renewal Met With Interference, Misrepresentation Claims appeared first on Radio World.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will leave the FCC in January.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve at the Federal Communications Commission, including as chairman of the FCC over the past four years,” he said in a statement.

Pai is a Republican who departs ahead of an expected new chair being appointed by President-elect Joe Biden.

“I am grateful to President Trump for giving me the opportunity to lead the agency in 2017, to President Obama for appointing me as a commissioner in 2012, and to Senate Majority Leader McConnell and the Senate for twice confirming me. To be the first Asian-American to chair the FCC has been a particular privilege. As I often say: only in America.”

[Read Radio World’s interview with Ajit Pai shortly after he took the reins as chair in 2017.]

Pai has been a cheerleader for radio in his tenure, often speaking about the importance of the medium in American life, and he has sought to help bolster AM broadcasters in particular through a series of “revitalization” measures. He also has pushed efforts to streamline processes and reduce regulations. Among many changes during his tenure was the elimination of the main studio rule.

Pai thanked the FCC’s “talented staff” and said they “performed heroically, especially during the pandemic.”

“It’s also been an honor to work with my fellow commissioners to execute a strong and broad agenda.  Together, we’ve delivered for the American people over the past four years: closing the digital divide; promoting innovation and competition, from 5G on the ground to broadband from space; protecting consumers; and advancing public safety.  And this FCC has not shied away from making tough choices.  As a result, our nation’s communications networks are now faster, stronger, and more widely deployed than ever before.”

Among the highlights he cited are “reforms we have instituted to make the agency more accountable to the American people.  In particular, for the first time ever, we’ve made public drafts of the proposals and orders slated for a vote three weeks before the agency’s monthly meetings, making this the most transparent FCC in history.”

The post Chairman Pai Will Leave FCC in January appeared first on Radio World.

Radio World’s free ebook “Console Tech 2021” is about how the physical and virtual surfaces that radio stations and online audio creators use are evolving.

Five manufacturers discuss specific features or designs that they’re implementing in their new offerings; and several dozen radio engineers and owners talk about the consoles they’re using, including both old and new models, and what they like about them.

Read it here.

The post Console Tech 2021: A New Ebook appeared first on Radio World.

Radio industry veteran Brad Nolan has launched Podcave, an all-in-one podcasting management and publishing platform, intended to support users through every step of podcasting, from show planning and guest booking, to publishing and promotion.

Using SaaS technology to provide professional tools and structure on a single platform, Podcast offers audio hosting powered in the background by OmnyStudio with included IAB-certified analytics. Elsewhere in the software is a complete episode planning suite that includes guest management, a segment planner, a music library (powered by radio imaging company Benztown), a trending topic/source finder, and a “Record Assist” focus mode for while users are recording an episode.

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

An internal promotion engine includes scheduling social media, notifying guests of their episode release, email marketing and text/SMS marketing. Users also get a stable, customizable (including custom domain) website powered by PodcastPage.io. Podcave also offers a 30-day free trial.

Podcave’s founding team consists of radio veteran Brad Nolan, who has created radio shows now heard in hundreds of cities, and coached talent at the highest levels of radio broadcasting; John Michael has worked at some of the most influential radio stations in the U.S., including KROQ, JACK-FM, and AMP Radio in Los Angeles; and Nikki Noble has managed online communities in the thousands, ran operations for major companies, and spearheads Podcave’s women in podcasting and social responsibility initiatives.

Info: www.podcave.com

The post Podcave Podcast Production Management Platform Debuts appeared first on Radio World.