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A potential merger between a law firm with a major Washington, D.C. communications law practice and a law firm that prior to May 2019 was home to Spanish Broadcasting System’s outside counsel, James Sammataro, is not moving forward.

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At the NAB Show New York, Lawo unveiled a new iteration of its Crystal console for broadcast applications. It says the board provides the power of its Diamond console in a more compact and cost-effective package.

“This IP-native mixing system is based on the open Ravenna/AES67 audio-over-IP networking standards and complies with SMPTE ST2110-30/- 31 for audio, and ST2022-7 for redundancy,” the company said.

“Powered by the Lawo Power Core Engine, crystal supports expandable I/O, accommodating AES67, MADI, analog, AES3 as well as Dante audio sources and destinations.”

Johan Boqvist and Andreas Hilmer are shown at the Lawo booth this week in New York.

There are two hardware modules that together provide a choice of three sizes, with six, eight or 14 faders, and they are available in light and dark finishes.

Lawo positions the console as suitable for applications that straddle radio and a variety of audio production tasks including small to mid-sized on-air studios, commentary suites, podcasting and remote/OB work.

Features include motorized faders, programmable color-coded LED buttons, and snapshots and DSP profiles. Optional Virtual Extension modules feature HD TFT displays for extended information and touch control. Ember+ and HTML5 integration enables control of third-party hardware and software.

An AutoMix function maintains the balance of multi-mic productions, while AutoMix Grouping allows the intelligent automatic mixing to be applied to multiple independent source groups. AutoGain optimizes guest and host mic levels with a button press.

It can be operated in Power Core mode, which allows operators to use the console in combination with a Power Core engine. In this mode, the console supports a Power Core Compact license for single six-fader or extended 14-fader setups, and the Power Core Max license. “Accommodating up to four consoles, one Power Core with the Max license allows four studios to share its processing power and business logic in a variety of configurations.”

A Controller mode supports a small IP-native extension panel for mc² audio production consoles. A crystal Main or Fader module can be used as a control panel for an mc²/A__UHD Core-based back end. Lawo says this opens possibilities in distributed production workflows or for backup purposes. “When used as a companion in an mc² system, literally any console strip can be mapped to the crystal surface.”

The manufacturer also held a launch event at its headquarters studio in Germany and streamed it live.

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The post Lawo Unveils New Crystal Console appeared first on Radio World.

The board of directors at the nation’s No. 1 owner of broadcast television stations has declared a quarterly cash dividend, payable the Monday following the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the U.S.

The decision comes as Argus Research again adjusted its 1-year target price on the company’s stock, which has taken a battering in recent weeks.

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New tools that leverage artificial intelligence are emerging all across our industry. The new issue of RW takes a look at 10 of them.

Also, an interview with consultant and LPFM expert John Broomall.

Buyer’s Guide looks at remote control systems, signal monitoring, test and EAS gear.

And John Bisset on what you might want to know about a useful resource called Hayseed Hamfest.

Read it here.

The post Read the Oct. 25, 2023 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

He’s been a key part of the morning show at an iHeartMedia-owned Classic Rock station since 2005, waking up the Back Bay of Massachusetts alongside Pete McKenzie, Heather Ford and, for the last four years, show producer Kenny Young. Before that, he, McKenzie and Ford were heard in mornings at heritage Classic Rocker WPDH-FM in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Now, listeners and the air staff at WZLX-FM in Boston are coping with the sudden loss of Kevin Karlson.

Karlson, along with McKenzie and Ford, joined WZLX under Infinity Broadcasting ownership following two years in the Mid-Hudson Valley, a move that then-WPDH owner Cumulus disputed, claiming they were under contract. Ultimately, the company could not prove that the hosts were not “at-will” employees, and they had been at WZLX ever since, staying on following its transfer of control to iHeartMedia.

Before joining WPDH in September 2003, Karlson and McKenzie had been with WZNE-FM in Rochester, N.Y. 

In the 10am Eastern hour on Friday, WZLX broke the news on X, formerly Twitter. “It is with great sadness that 100.7 WZLX shares news of the unexpected passing of our friend,” the station posted. By 2:30pm Eastern, nearly 174,000 people had viewed the post.

On Instagram, WZLX added, “For almost 20 years, Kevin helped wake up Boston with humor and classic rock. We invite you to share your memories of Kevin as we celebrate his life. If you have a memory you’d like to share please call us at 617-931-1007, we’d love to hear from you.” ⁠

On the Karlson McKenzie & Heather X feed, Karlson’s most recent post boasted of the arrival of a new hot tub at his home. That was on October 12.

During WZLX’s midday shift, veteran air personality Carter Alan noted that the cause of Karlson’s death was not yet determined.

According to CBS Boston, Karlson was 59 years of age.

— With reporting from RBR+TVBR in Kingston, N.Y.

 

A bankruptcy court auction of the radio stations formerly controlled by Ed Stolz‘s Royce International Broadcasting appears to be successful, RBR+TVBR has learned.

Court-appointed trustee Michael Carmel conducted the auction sale on Thursday morning, Pacific Time. Three winning bidders are believed to be in the drivers’ seat — a sign that Stolz’s quixotic quest to somehow retain ownership of his AM, three FMs and two FM translators is close to its conclusion.

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KMFA Classical 89.5 in Austin, Texas, could finally throw open its doors for an open house in the spring of 2022, inviting the public to tour a beautiful new facility that was completed a year and a half earlier during the pandemic.

The independent public station serves 120,000 listeners each week with locally produced shows like “Classical Austin” and “From the Butler School” as well as nationally distributed programming from Public Radio International, American Public Media and National Public Radio.

This upstairs lobby serves the station offices and is a landing spot for visitors entering from the downstairs reception area.

The 18,000-square-foot facility is the first purpose-built home for the 55-year-old station. It is designed to be open and welcoming for live audiences and visitors, according to Anthony McSpadden, director of broadcasting and content.

KMFA’s “Sound Garden” is an interactive ecosystem of playable sculptures that merge historic musical instrument designs — Stroh horns, diddly bows, organ pipes, marching band instruments — with household materials (copper plumbing, fireplace bellows, plants) and contemporary controllers, contact mics and proximity sensors. It was designed by artist and musician Steve Parker.

The 135-seat Draylen Mason Music Studio is a performance space and state-of-the-art recording facility equipped with a Steinway Spirio / r high-resolution piano, tracking studio and two production studios separated by glass. Those are upstairs, while the air studio (along with a Steinway Model B grand piano) is downstairs adjacent to the main lobby.

“What sets KMFA apart from most other stations is that its studios are as much a gathering space as they are designed for the purpose of radio broadcasting,” McSpadden said.

Announcer Dianne Donovan in the main air studio.

“KMFA wants listeners to visit us, see the radio station they listen to and come to events here. The open spaces serve to create areas where people can gather in casual groups, and refreshments can be served.” 

The interior features subtle reminders of the station’s personality.

“For example, there are horizontal, wood-faced ceiling beams meant to evoke the lines of music manuscript paper. And on a prominent feature wall, there are tiles in black and white designed to mimic the visual image of a digital sound file — in this case, it’s Rossini’s ‘William Tell Overture,’ the first piece of music played on KMFA in 1967. In addition, we prominently display the technology running our building and on-air systems as well as our 40,000-CD library in a way that visitors can easily view.”

The ceiling treatments reflect and distribute sound while providing a striking visual presence. They were designed by acousticians from BAi LLC, headed by Richard Boner, in Austin.

The project was led by Engineer Phil Pollack until he left in 2019, at which point McSpadden took the lead. Anne Peterson, KMFA’s director of finance, played a key project role. The architect was Austin’s Sixth River, with interior design by STG. The acousticians were BAi LLC, led by principal Richard Boner. 

The building is new and designed for KMFA, which owns it.

The performance space technical plant was designed and installed by Big House Sound, while broadcast and production studio equipment was installed by KMFA staff.

The facility uses Axia broadcast consoles, with an Allen & Heath Avantis console in the performance space. Beck Integrating Media Solutions built the furniture for the air studio. Paravel Systems Rivendell Automation, GatesAir Intraplex with twin fiber connections and Telos Z/IP One codecs support important broadcast functions. Microphones range from Electro-Voice and Sennheiser to Rode, AKG and Neumann; McSpadden has also added a suite of mics from Austin-area manufacturer Warm Audio to the mic locker.

The project was funded entirely by community gifts totaling $10.5 million.

This story is excerpted from the free ebook “Spectacular Radio Studios 2023.”

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Facility Showcases]

The post A Home for Music That “Inspires and Restores the Human Spirit” appeared first on Radio World.

The author is chairman of the DRM Consortium. Her commentaries appear regularly at radioworld.com.

Much ink has been used recently on the topic of carmakers dropping AM reception capability in cars, especially in EVs. Hence the “for and against” discussions in the U.S., at least, about the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.”

Shortwave reception, with is large coverage possibilities, has often been criticized for its audio quality which can be noisy and subject to annoying levels of variations. In cars, there are other drawbacks like less than optimum antennas, which are mostly tuned for vertical polarization while shortwave is horizontally polarized.

It is undeniable that analog AM Shortwave reception in cars can be quite unreliable, also due to lower average-SNR over time. But all these negative points are not always present. In some places (take Nigeria and the BBC broadcasts) the shortwave transmissions are great, in a quality that is not much different from that of a FM broadcast.

Citing the interference and other drawbacks, allegedly magnified by the arrival of EVs, many regulators, legislators and broadcasters have decided to ditch shortwave and close down transmission sites, calling shortwave obsolete. The reasons are diverse, from some clear commercial interests, energy cutting exercises and a fall in audiences, too.

[Related: “Letters: AM’s Future, Shortwave’s Past and More“]

A few general points to examine though. One is that once a shortwave frequency is given up, it is gone forever (a bit like giving up a chunk of the national territory; and would you do that willingly?). This also opens the possibility that others, with a different view or goal, might snap them immediately (see the Chinese grab of Australian abandoned frequencies).

But what many specialists fail to mention is that there is a digital solution for interference in shortwave and it is called DRM in shortwave. The open DRM standard is the only terrestrial broadcasting system offering a digital, much better alternative.

DRM eliminates unstable and degraded audio, saves spectrum and, more importantly, a lot of energy costs (between 40–80%). Besides, you could use the DRM broadcasts and the data capability of the standard to also send emergency or disaster warnings.

Relying just on mobiles has recently shown many flaws and breakdowns (failure to transmit the messages, sending them to indiscriminate number of communities and creating unnecessary panic, etc.)

Using Shortwave DRM AM band transmissions can provide reliable reception quality till 8-10dB SNR. DRM supports various robust modes (B,C,D) and advanced audio coding. DRM provides higher level of defense against the “electrical noise” in cars than analog, and antennas can be optimized for greater reception.

The DRM Consortium is ready to cooperate with the automotive industry, with all interested parties, to back these statements based on data (still limited) with all the facts necessary to give all players the information they need for the right decisions. If you are interested, please write to: projectoffice@drm.org

[Read more stories about the future of AM radio in cars]

The post Now Is the Time to Save AM in Cars Using Digital appeared first on Radio World.

Radio World’s new ebook explores strategies to help today’s AM broadcasters get the most out of their transmission air chain and infrastructure.

What techniques and technologies are available? What can be learned from developments among international broadcasters and from the early adopters of all-digital MA3? Are there opportunities to address challenges like noise floor using audio processing? What role is MDCL playing now?

We explore these questions and more with Jeff Welton, David Layer, Mike Pappas, Ben Dawson, Cris Alexander, Dave Kolesar and Joshua King.

Read it here.

The post Maximizing Your AM Infrastructure appeared first on Radio World.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel says the FCC plans to “incentivize innovation and experimentation in the amateur radio bands” by getting rid of outdated restrictions and providing licensees with the flexibility to use modern digital emissions.

The commission at its November meeting is expected to take action on a Report and Order that would eliminate the baud rate limitation and establish a bandwidth limitation in the amateur radio bands below 29.7 MHz. 

The order being circulated for tentative consideration by the commission would remove the baud rate limitation — the rate at which the carrier waveform amplitude, frequency and/or phase is varied to transmit information — for data emissions in the amateur radio bands, the FCC says. The current baud rate limits were adopted in 1980.

The order would implement a 2.8 kilohertz bandwidth limitation in place of the baud rate in amateur radio bands. The 2.8 kHz limitation is consistent with the commission’s treatment of other wireless radio services, the FCC says.

The current rules limit the baud rate for high-frequency amateur radioteletype/data transmissions to 300 baud for frequencies below 28 MHz (except in the 60-meter band), and 1200 baud in the 10 meter (28-29.7 MHZ) band.

The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau says the change in technical standards would allow the amateur radio service to operate more efficiently, including during times of emergency to support public safety.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in 2013 asked the commission to delete references to the baud rate and to establish a bandwidth limitation of 2.8 kHz. The group argued the public safety benefits of making the change. ARRL stated: “[i]ncreasing speed is especially important when amateurs voluntarily assist during and after hurricanes, forest fires and other disasters.”

At the time, ARRL also told the FCC that eliminating the baud rate limitation will “incentivize innovation by allowing more data to be transmitted within each signal without increasing bandwidth from that currently used.”

A spokesperson for ARRL says the organization supports the proposed action and the proposal of further notice. 

In a subsequent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in 2016 (WT Docket No. 16-239), the FCC tentatively concluded that a 2.8 kilohertz bandwidth limitation for radioteletype and data emissions in the MF/HF bands was not necessary, and sought comment. 

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A few commenters at the time of the NPRM opposed any rule change, arguing that the existing rules should be retained in order to protect access to amateur bands by Morse code and other narrowband transmissions.

However, the commission writes in the order: “Based on the record in this proceeding, we find that the baud rate limitation has become outdated and hampers, rather than promotes, innovation and robust use of the amateur bands.”

The commission continued in the new order: “We are persuaded by the weight of the record in this proceeding that, without a baud rate or bandwidth limit, data stations using a large amount of spectrum for a single emission could do so to the detriment of simultaneous use by other stations using narrowband emission modes.” 

In essence, the technical change mean amateurs will require less time to transmit messages, which in turn will open up more spectrum in the time domain for more amateurs to use, said David Siddall, general counsel for ARRL. 

“This is a very simple change. In 1980, at the inception of digital technologies that could be used by radio amateurs, the FCC adopted a speed limit of 300 baud for the stated purpose of limiting the amount of spectrum occupied by any single signal,” Siddall said. “Radio amateurs, being tinkerers and experimenters, worked to develop faster and faster speeds that still fit within the standard spectrum bandwidth. Eventually their innovations to the technology significantly increased spectrum efficiency but ran up against the FCC baud rate limit.”

One of the benefits of the changes will be allowing for “faster emergency communications” by volunteer ham radio operators during emergencies, the FCC says.

The agency says its Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s Mobility Division has previously issued waivers allowing amateur operators directly involved with disaster relief efforts to exceed the baud rate limitation in the interest of public safety.

The FCC at its November meeting will also consider a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) that proposes to remove the baud rate limitation in the 2200 meter and 630 meter bands. The commission also proposes to remove the baud rate limitation in the very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands. 

The commission says it expects to seek comment on the appropriate bandwidth limitation for the 2200 meter band, the 630 meter band, and the VHF and UHF bands.

Steve Stroh, editor of amateur radio newsletter Zero Retries, says the need for improved data communications in amateur radio also coincides with spectrum becoming more “noisy” due to “pollution” by systems such as LED lighting, small switching power supplies and even solar panels. 

“That noise has an outsize impact on analog modes such as voice and very low power transmissions. Improved data communications modes, including digital voice modes, can overcome the noise issues,” Stroh said in an email to Radio World.

Stroh says he is happy to see the FCC address the same limitation on the amateur radio VHF and UHF bands — where there is arguably much greater potential for technological innovation in data communications technology — if it wasn’t for the data rate and mode limitations.

“Fortunately, in its proposal, the FCC recognizes that the symbol rate and mode issue does include the Amateur Radio VHF and UHF bands. Thus the FCC’s proposal is a very good one that will significantly benefit Amateur Radio,” he said. 

The FCC’s next meeting is scheduled for November 15. A comment period on the FNPRM will commence 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. 

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The post FCC Wants to Bolster Amateur Radio appeared first on Radio World.

There will be no “Great Affiliation Swaps” in any of the 21 markets where Sinclair Broadcast Group owns CBS network affiliates, thanks to a freshly signed comprehensive, multi-year distribution agreement announced on Friday by CBS parent Paramount.

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Salem Media Group is largely known for its collection of Christian-themed and secular Conservative News/Talk radio stations, as well as a publishing house that’s home to the works of individuals such as Dinesh D’Souza. But, Salem also has visual content for the taking, and being able to view it just became a step easier.

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As the Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Media sees it, the audio content creation and distribution company’s third quarter results are exactly where they are supposed to be, based on company projections and forecasts.

That said, there’s a “dichotomy” between local and national revenue that is playing a key role in the company’s profit and loss sheet, as Cumulus saw its net revenue drop and its net income shrink against tough comps.

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This document corrects the preamble to a proposed rule published in the Federal Register of September 29, 2023, concerning implementation of certain allocation decisions from the Final Acts of the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015. The document provided an incorrect comment date and reply comment date.

This document corrects the preamble to a proposed rule published in the Federal Register of September 29, 2023, concerning implementation of certain allocation decisions from the Final Acts of the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015. The document provided an incorrect comment date and reply comment date.

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Audio Division, Media Bureau, issues letter decision granting modification application

The Media Bureau and the Office of Managing Director require Best Country Broadcasting, LLC, to pay delinquent regulatory fees or show cause why payment should be waived or deferred.

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