Aggregator

.

.

.

.

.

The Media Bureau announces that it has opened MB Docket No 19-347, captioned "Cable Service Change Notifications."

Bill O’Reilly got an Air Force One sit-down with Pres. Donald Trump earlier this month. The result? A special Thanksgiving holiday one hour special that will be available for affiliates of O’Reilly’s “The O’Reilly Update,” a 15-minute daily program that airs on almost 200 stations; syndicated by Key Networks. Of course, the program will be “yuge” and “The best ever.”

The post O’Reilly Serves Trump for Thanksgiving appeared first on Radio World.

The author is a broadcast technical author from Australia and has spent a lifetime in training technicians. Radio World welcomes opinions and points of view on important radio broadcast industry issues.

The article “Does 5G Make Sense for Radio?” written by Chris Weck, is an excellent in-depth piece, to which I would like to add some additional facts.

Please look at the Youtube video soon as they may take it down.

For 5G to get the high data rates boasted, the transmission frequency has to be the highest frequency used by the public with the exception of light. It is 39 GHz. At these frequencies the signals will not penetrate anything other than vacuum and air. Not buildings or terrain. Look at this promotional video made by Verizon https://youtu.be/jnyG2bliKCs It has been carefully crafted to not show the downsides of such a high frequency;

Example 1

How far does it travel? 915 m (ie. less than a kilometer!) Note that he had to increase the height to get line of sight back to the base station!

Example 2

Foliage. The video was shot on a fine day, he makes no mention of what happens when the foliage is wet or the absorption of the signal in heavy rain.

Example 3

Trick Shots. One example in the right locations cannot be generalized to say it will work everywhere. What about hills?

Example 4

Walls. Notice that the base station is visible through the window and is not far away and the signal goes around a wall to a modem/router, which then converts the signal Wi-Fi, meaning it can go through walls in a building. What proportion of houses already have this connection already? What would have happened if the tower was on the other side of the building?

Beamforming requires the signal to be delayed until the beam is in your direction, just like a lighthouse. This is in addition to the variable delay caused by a myriad of possible paths to the base station from the studio. The radio will have to store the incoming data until it receives all the time labelled packets to decode them in time order.

Some telcos are over promoting 5G to sell phones, which will spend nearly all of their life operating in 3G and 4G mode. Even if the telcos start in the 3.6 GHz band there is around 60 MHz per direction available and it is incapable of the speeds shown above.

The United Nations’ Telecommunications Union says “At the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), global stakeholders are working towards building consensus on additional spectrum for IMT. Taking place in Egypt from Oct. 28 to Nov. 22, WRC-19 will consider new allocations to the mobile service and identification for IMT of frequencies within the following frequency ranges: 24.25 – 27.5 GHz, 31.8 – 33.4 GHz, 37 – 40.5 GHz, 40.5 – 42.5 GHz, 42.5 – 43.5 GHz, 45.5 – 47 GHz, 47 – 47.2 GHz, 47.2 – 50.2 GHz, 50.4 GHz – 52.6 GHz, 66 – 76 GHz, and 81 – 86 GHz.”

It can be seen that as the frequency rises a greater range of frequencies is available hence the greater the data speeds which can be achieved, remembering that that bandwidth has to be shared between the users of that repeater at that point in time. In addition the higher the frequency the greater are the propagation effects shown in examples 1–4 above.

With all of the above constraints in the 39 GHz band, they frequently show base stations on poles on street verges which will have to be much less than a kilometer apart all of which have to be connected to the network using fiber optic which could already be going to houses already. The competitor to this is fiber to the premises which can also achieve these speeds using multi-colored lasers, and it is not affected by the environment or even Fiber to the Curb is fast enough for most people.

Not mentioned is what happens if there is a power failure in the street or city. No emergency messages will be relayed to smart speakers or phones.

Weck, also mentions propagation losses. The line of sight losses in dry air are frequency dependent.

The frequency used is the center of each band. VHF Low is available in the Americas and Band 1 elsewhere in the world.

The radiated power is controlled by the antenna gain, the cable loss to the antenna and the transmitter power.

The higher the frequency the more that rain absorbs the signal as it does with blocked paths.

Remember that DAB+ and DRM are both capable of transmitting data such as images, multipage text and traffic data for vehicles as well as hyperlinks.

The huge losses for 5G makes a single transmitter/receiver site for the 100 km radius impossible, hence the need for thousands of low-powered transceivers on street poles.

Lastly broadcasting is essentially a one-way communication to all listeners, which can reliably transmit emergency messaging to the whole population.

Mobile/cell phone systems are designed to be a two-way communication to an individual, when used by a broadcaster, each listener has their own bidirectional channel, which is hardly used in the return direction. This is very wasteful of spectrum, hardware and electricity and will cost the listener dearly. In addition, 5G is incapable of reliably messaging the population in an emergency.

The post Letter: Digital Radio Vs. 5G appeared first on Radio World.

Harman Professional Solutions has announced its new AKG Lyra ultra-HD, multimode USB condenser microphone.

The AKG Lyra provides 4K-compatible, Ultra HD-grade 24-bit/192 kHz audio resolution, according to the company, in part due to its AKG Adaptive Capsule Array, which provides user-selectable capture modes optimized for different performance formats. As a USB mic, it offers “plug-and-play” operation, sports accessible controls, features an internal self-adjusting shockmount and built-in sound diffuser and more.

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

The AKG Adaptive Capsule Array uses four capture modes to adapt to performance needs. Front mode isolates the target sound, rejecting unwanted sounds at the microphone back and sides. Front & Back mode captures and blends together sound equally on all sides, while Tight Stereo mode captures audio in true stereo with discrete left and right audio, providing separation for side-by-side interviews or panel discussions, or for recording instruments like drums or piano. Wide Stereo mode is intended for capturing audio with greater stereo separation, room ambience, and depth.

Lyra is compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices, and sports a “zero-latency” headphone jack and headphone volume knob that eliminates the short delay between speaking into a microphone and hearing the signal in the headphones, so creators can stay focused on their performance.

Info: www.akg.com

 

The post AKG Unveils Lyra Ultra-HD, Multimode USB Microphone appeared first on Radio World.

TUCSON, Ariz. — At Family Life Radio, we have developed a strategy to put more resources into our online streaming platforms. We explored many fine products, providers, services and distribution methods; but in the end, we opted to host the online radio stream ourselves so that our product wouldn’t change if we changed provider. 

My colleague Michael Bové introduced me to a friend of his, John Schaab at Modulation Index, which is turning our vision into a reality.

When I saw that the StreamS encoder was Windows-based, I initially was turned off by it due to the notorious reputations of some Windows updates. However, upon further discussion, I learned that Modulation Index uses a professional specialized, slimmed-down version of Windows 10 called LTSC [Long Term Servicing Channel] with which they then utilize a script eliminating even more unnecessary functions, making it more of an OS skeleton to house their product. 

The StreamS encoder does not need the same maintenance as a typical computer would, which alleviates the problem of installing updates upon a reboot of the machine. 

[StreamS/Modulation Index Releases New Encoder]

After we got our demo unit, the configuration process was easy to accomplish with the documentation provided. There was minimal troubleshooting, and the expertise at StreamS-Modulation Index got us up and running quickly. 

We have a stream set up securely sending an HE-AACv2 HLSdirect stream at 32 kbps via FTPS to a cloud-based server we rent from VULTR and have leveraged Cloud Flare as our CDN. The changes we are implementing are not only driving our financial overhead down but this solution consumes less bandwidth for our listeners, allowing for them to listen longer on their mobile devices or favorite music platform. We are still in the process of launching our new product and we have never been more excited.

For information, contact John Schaab at Modulation Index at 1-940-206-7702 or visit www.streamindex.com.

The post User Report: StreamS Shines for Family Life Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Radio Difunzi Centar, the national broadcaster for Montenegro, has tapped software tech company Connect to update it monitoring and control platform, specifically with the KYBIO Media system.

Radio Difuzni Centar control room in Montenegro, using KYBIO Media.

RDC has 80 sites across Montenegro that utilize a variety of transmitters and other equipment and was looking for a new software solution.

KYBIO is composed of a combination of modules that enable users to visualize in real time the statuses and key metrics of all sites and equipment in explorable dashboards; features real-time alarms, notifications, time-based reporting and root cause analysis; offers time management features, event resolution tracking and advanced control for remote actions over connected equipment with industry standard protocols; and provides aggregating data from multiple equipment and locations, which can then be transformed into visual insights and reports.

“We were impressed by the flexibility and scalability of KYBIO Media with its unique network scanning and auto-discovery features that greatly helped speed up the deployment time,” said Ljiljana Bracanovic-Nikolic, head of engineering at RDC.

“We really appreciate the software ability to handle large and complex data sets while presenting a simple and contextual user interface to our users.”

The post Montenegro’s Radio Difunzi Centar Selects Connect for Monitoring, Control appeared first on Radio World.

.

Broadcast Action Public Notice

.

Applications Accepted for Filing

Actions on Pending Applications

.

.

With a public C-band auction on the horizon, the National Association of Broadcasters and a number of companies that represent large purchases of C-band capacity are fully behind FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s commitment that any plan for the auction will “protect the services that are currently delivered using the C-band so they can continue to be delivered to the American people.”

That quote came from a letter sent by the NAB and the companies — which include Disney, CBS, NBCUniversal, Viacom, A&E, Univision, Fox and Discovery — to FCC Secretary Marlene Dortch in response to an ex parte submission about the C-band.

[Read: FCC Announces C-Band Repurposing Plan]

Pai announced earlier this week that plans are underway to launch a public auction for 300 MHz of the C-band spectrum for the development of 5G. That would leave 200 MHz for current C-band spectrum users to continue their operations, which has been used primarily by satellite operators for the delivery of video and audio content.

“The chairman’s recognition of the importance of maintaining a robust and reliable content distribution system in the upper 200 MHz of C-band spectrum, free of harmful interference and without proposals to introduce new terrestrial transmissions, whether on a fixed, mobile or flexible use basis, is a critical step in this proceeding,” the letter reads.

NAB and its co-signers also stressed the importance of working with the FCC to make the transition as effective as possible for satellite operators and their customers as they shift to less spectrum.

Other areas regarding the transition brought up in the letter touch on reimbursement costs; interference prevention, detection, mitigation and enforcement; maintenance of the service during the transition; and honoring of the commitments that the C-band satellite companies have made. NAB described these as “essential.”

“We are committed to working closely with the commission, the satellite industry and other stakeholders to ensure a successful transition,” the letter reads.

The full letter can be read on NAB’s website.

 

 

The post NAB, Content Companies See Protection of C-Band Services as “Critical” appeared first on Radio World.

Podcasting seems unstoppable these days. Forrester Research reports the new medium will be a $1 billion media market by this time next year — pretty incredible when you consider that the Interactive Advertising Bureau placed that same market at “only” $400 million in 2018. The expected 150% increase is, of course, due to the fact that more people are listening to podcasts than ever before. For example, Spotify noted its customers’ podcast consumption in 2018 rose 250% year-over-year, and Forrester claims adult podcast listeners spend more than three hours a week listening to online content. With the audience only growing, you can expect the number of podcasts, podcasters and advertisers to likewise mushroom in the coming year.

Navigating a marketplace that’s exploding like that is another story, however, but it’s one that will be crucial for many audio pros. The medium is still in a “wild west” phase where indie podcasts can blow up overnight, but listeners’ expectations are ramping up, too — homegrown shows with amateur audio quality are increasingly a thing of the past. This represents a great opportunity, however, not only for audio manufacturers, but also recording studios, engineers and other audio pros to provide podcast production services — or to start their own shows.

So how do you break into podcasting, record a great series and get a massive following? That’s a question we’ve been mulling a lot recently, as we’ve been curating a day of top podcast professionals who will discuss those topics and more at The Video Show, taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 4–5.

The podcasting sessions are designed for all kinds of audio pros, from those thinking of delving into podcasting to seasoned veterans looking to up their game. Speakers will include studio design legend John Storyk of Walters-Storyk Design Group; Tim Albright of AVNation; Melissa Monte, host of the hit podcast “Mind Love”; Frank Verderosa, engineer of “Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast;” Michael Goodman, president of CEntrance; Jill Olmsted, American University professor and author; and author/former NPR and Audient podcast guru Eric Nuzum.

Presentations will include:

Tools for Podcasting: How, Why, Where — American University professor Jill Olmsted will explore podcasting, how it works and where to find tools and inspiration to create your own podcast. Olmsted will also gift attendees with free copies of her extensive ebook, “Tools for Podcasting.”

Podcasting: From Choosing Gear to Empowering Guests — Michael Goodman, audio product design engineer and chief podcaster at CEntrance, will delve into audio hardware, podcasting best practices, dealing with podcast guests and more.

Podcast Studio Design: Necessities, Variations and Options — John Storyk of Walters-Storyk Design Group provides a case study of creating professional facilities for top podcasters Stitcher and Spotify’s Gimlet Media.

Getting it Made: Content and Quality in Podcasting — commercial post and pro podcast engineer Frank Verderosa will explore ways to create audio content, weighing cost, purpose, audience and goals; discuss challenges and solutions; consider recording options; and show how scalable production can be.

Make Noise: A Creator’s Guide to Podcasting and Great Audio Storytelling — NPR/Audient veteran Eric Nuzum has helped launch over 130 podcasts; he’ll share real-world advice for creating a compelling podcast, and will additionally sign copies of his new podcasting book, “Make Noise.”

Pitches, Partners, & Placements, Oh, My: How to Get Over A Million Podcast Downloads Next Year — “Mind Love” podcaster Melissa Monte will share the exact strategies she used to grow her show from zero audience to over a million downloads in one year, with no paid advertisements.

Amplify Your Podcast with Social Media — AVNation’s Tim Albright will go through each of the major, and minor, social media networks and explore what each has to promote your podcast.

And that’s just the podcasting track. In all, The Video Show will feature more than 100 sessions on all kinds of content creation, as well as a screening room, demo areas, streaming studio and exhibit floor. You can find out more at www.thevideoshow.com, and if you’re already amped to go, psst — visit here to get a nicely discounted registration. (Don’t say I never did anything for you.)

 

The post Follow Podcasting’s Path — or Blaze It Yourself appeared first on Radio World.