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The Media Bureau enters into a Consent Decree with Iroquois County Broadcasting Company

Aeranti-Corallo Coordinator Marco Rossignoli (Photo courtesy Aeranti-Corallo)

Ninety years ago, on Dec. 26, 1933, Edwin Armstrong received patent number 1,941,067, “Radio Broadcasting and Receiving.” Italian broadcasters are marking the 90th anniversary of that patent with a call to ensure FM broadcasting remains a central part of the mediascape.

Aeranti-Corallo, which represents about 450 local FM radio stations across Italy, issue

d a statement celebrating 90 years of FM broadcasting and noting the superior sound quality of Armstrong’s technology compared to AM radio. The organization also noted the strong market position FM enjoys today.

“December 26 will be the day FM technology turns 90, but despite its ‘senority,’ it it still represents the prevailing strategic asset of the radio market,” according to the statement. Aeranti-Corallo pointed to a Verified Market Research report that found FM radio globally will be worth more than $458 billion in 2027, up from $267.7 billion in 2019.

“Radio listening in Italy, and in many other countries, is still mainly based on this broadcasting technology and, therefore, we believe that digital transmissions (DAB+ and IP), although representing a very important technological development … which cannot be ignored, should take place without any purpose as a substitute for FM transmissions,” stated Aeranti-Corallo Coordinator Marco Rossignoli. “New digital technologies will be able to support FM broadcasts, further encouraging radio listening with new proposals.”

The post Italian Local Radio Notes FM’s 90th appeared first on Radio World.

NEW YORK — Broadcasting a parade isn’t a simple task. However, when it came time for CBS to air its Thanksgiving Day coverage, the show went off without a hitch.

Making the live programming flow smoothly was none other than CP Communications.

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John Andrews worked for WTAG(AM), Worcester, Mass., from 1970 through 1996. In the early 1970s, the station’s main transmitter was an RCA BTA 5-H, installed in 1959. 

One day, the RCA went off the air and would not respond to overload resets via remote control. With the station itself still comfortably broadcasting with a 250-watt backup transmitter and antenna at the studio, John went to the transmitter site and found that the neutralizing transformer for the 5762 PA finals had arced and burned. 

Now, with an RCA 5-D-1 auxiliary transmitter on the air at full power, John could take time with the repair. But the cost of a transformer replacement from RCA was just shy of the GNP of many nations, so John and his boss decided to repair the existing part. 

Their inspection disclosed damage to the Teflon rib as well as burnt insulation on one of the windings. 

Using a handsaw and some scrap Teflon, they replaced the rib and rewound the burnt section of the winding. With some trepidation, they reinstalled the repaired transformer and applied power. All worked fine, and the rig was put back on the air that night.

John’s boss was not satisfied, though; he felt they should have a replacement transformer. 

The first photo shows the result. Over a week or more, they located a 6-inch length of 4-inch phenolic tube, and cut eight ribs from some very old maple. To combat moisture, John’s boss boiled the maple ribs in beeswax. Then they wound the transformer using some 22-gauge double-cotton-covered wire they had on hand.

A home-brew neutralizing transformer.

They laid the first winding down directly on the form, and then lacquered it. They used brass hardware to assemble the ribs onto the form, and added the other windings. Then they lacquered the whole thing and, just to be safe, hi-pot tested it. 

During a rig maintenance session in the following days, they installed this homebrew replacement. It worked identically to the original.

John reinstalled the original transformer and put the “new” one in a cabinet. 

The RCA 5-H eventually became an auxiliary transmitter, serving into the early 2000s. When John came across the homemade spare, he couldn’t throw it out. Today it sits on a shelf, right above his ham rig. 

If John’s name sounds familiar, you may have encountered him in his days at Comrex. He now is retired.

We have a match

In a recent issue we showed an interesting picture of what many hams have identified as a Barker & Williamson link-coupled matching network. 

Rob Atkinson, K5UJ, was one of many who wrote that the components were used as the output network for a push-pull Class C RF power amplifier. The PA is loaded by moving the swing link jack bar in and out of the center of the coil. The balanced feedline attaches to each end of the swing link coil.

We mentioned this variable coil assembly in the Oct. 25 issue.

Back in the 1930s, Rob writes, ham bands were changed by swapping plug-in coils (only when the rig was powered down, of course). Some hams pulled arcs from the coils using screwdrivers as a way of showing off. If you pulled the longest arc in town, you had the most powerful rig.

What happened to these rigs? Television! 

TV interference forced hams to adopt new designs with lots of shielding, necessitating band-switching from safer front-panel controls. 

Rob has been working on resuscitating a 1949 Eldico TR1. Shown in our third photo, it consists of a single 813 modulated by 811As. The power supply employs two 866A mercury vapor rectifiers. 

A refurbished Eldico TR1.

This rig consisted of two chassis: the RF and audio chassis (shown), and the power supply. It was sold in kit form and was intended to run with the open chassis sitting on a tabletop with the power supply and AF/RF (audio frequency/radio frequency) chassis side by side, out in the open (with 1500 volts exposed!). Rob got a laugh when he discovered a “UL approved” sticker on his unit. 

Thanks to all who responded. 

[Read more Workbench columns.]

Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com.

The post The Way It Used to Be — Roll Your Own! appeared first on Radio World.

When it is 9am in Washington, D.C., it is Midnight the following day in Saipan, one of 10 islands that comprise the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands — a part of the United States just north of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

In April, Saipan made the news as a 50/50 partnership named DB Media acquired a Class C3 FM serving Saipan. Now, DB Media is adding a second FM — and a TV station.

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Commercial radio ended 2023 on a high with record listening.

An “alternate universe” headline from Radio & Records? Nope. It’s news shared Wednesday from Australia, as the nation’s Commercial Radio & Audio group sifts through GfK survey data that show the striking differences between the U.S. and the nation.

The latest radio ratings, reflecting the key cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, show listening up 49,000 year-over-year on a cumulative basis.

Thus, these cities enjoyed 12.25 million listeners aged 10 and over during the survey period.

Key to the growth: youth audiences. While in the U.S. broadcast radio is being driven largely by a 40+ consumer, except for multicultural formats including Hip-Hop and Latin Contemporary, in Australia some 87.2% of consumers between the ages of 10 and 24 listen weekly.

Meanwhile, as is the case in the UK and in parts of Europe, DAB+ is hot, illustrating again how the “in-band, on-channel” HD Radio decision made decades ago by U.S. radio broadcasting leaders proved to be a choice riddled with limited growth and consumer awareness challenges.

“Since 2021, listeners of commercial radio DAB+ only stations have grown by 48%,” said Ford Ennals, CEO of Commercial Radio & Audio.

While the listener numbers are strong, revenue is a different story. According to one consultant who spoke with RBR+TVBR early Thursday, Queensland Time, traditional AM and FM revenue is experiencing a highly challenging economic environment, with Q4 looking particularly glum.

— With reports from RBR+TVBR in Brisbane, Qld.

Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wants the next iteration of an FCC advisory panel to explore how artificial intelligence and machine learning “can enhance the security, reliability and integrity of communications networks in a nondiscriminatory, transparent and socially responsible manner.”

She also wants the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council to address “forward-looking issues including the security and reliability risks unique to emerging 6G networks and the reliability of next-generation 911 networks.”

CSRIC is an advisory committee that provides recommendations to the FCC to improve the security, reliability and interoperability of the nation’s communications systems. It operates on a two-year charter, and there have been eight such councils to date, with the most recent concluding its work last June.

The FCC will re-establish CSRIC by the end of March, and its first meeting is expected in June. The commission is seeking nominations for membership by Feb. 3. It has posted information about the group and how to apply. 

Radio broadcasters are among the communications providers who are eligible to participate. 

Among the organizations represented on the recently concluded CSRIC were the Consumer Technology Association, the Public Broadcasting Service, the National Weather Service and FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, as well as numerous representatives from public safety, telecom, Big Tech and other industry sectors.

In 2021 Rosenworcel announced she wanted to “revitalize” the council. CSRIC VIII published several reports on topics like security vulnerabilities and mitigations in HTTP2; best practices to improve supply chain security of infrastructure and network management systems; and Wireless Emergency Alert Performance Reporting.

A video of the final meeting of CSRIC VIII is on the FCC website and can be viewed below.

The post Rosenworcel Wants CSRIC to Look at AI appeared first on Radio World.

NEW YORK — How difficult is it for a consumer of the nation’s lone satellite radio service to cancel a subscription? As Letitia James, the Attorney General for the State of New York sees it, SiriusXM is guilty of engaging in “a deliberately lengthy and burdensome cancellation process.”

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NEW YORK — Citing people “with knowledge of the discussions,” Bloomberg is reporting that BET Chief Executive Officer Scott Mills and Chinh Chu, an ex-Blackstone Inc. C-Suiter who today operates CC Capital Partners, are pitching the purchase of the African American-focused cable television network from Paramount Global.

That doesn’t sit well with Byron Allen, the media mogul and Allen Media Group owner. He put in a bid, and it appears to be getting ignored.

While the negotiations are private, insiders tell Bloomberg a price just shy of $2 billion has been discussed.

For Allen, who has been on the record in stating BET should be sold to a Black-owned entity, the Chu/Mills bid pales in comparison to his own. “You are pursuing an inside sale at a below-market price with management that will not yield the highest price for the stockholders,” Allen wrote in an email sent to Paramount’s executive leadership and Board of Directors on Tuesday.

Allen has offered $3.5 billion for both VH1 and BET.

This follows a previous offer that came in at $3 billion, with four banks and two private equity firms coming together on the bid. That’s also according to Bloomberg, which claims Paramount would have held on to 19% ownership of the networks.

Also voicing criticism of Paramount is Tyler Perry, the acclaimed film maker and TV producer.

‘Tis the holiday season, and the FCC is in a forgiving mood. The federal agency has given what amounts to a giant Christmas kiss to a Washington state radio broadcaster that had been facing a $20,000 fine.

The FCC issued a notice of apparent liability to Northwest Rock N Roll Preservation Society (NWS) — a non-profit group operating an adult standards station — in August 2022 for misuse of an FM translator, and for making false certifications in an application with the intent to deceive the FCC.  

But, instead of being a scrooge, the FCC has decided to rescind its $20,000 fine against NWS because of the financial burden it would place on the broadcaster. The commission, however, did openly admonish NWS for “its willful and repeated” violation of FCC technical rules.

“A $20,000 forfeiture would be more than twenty times NWR’s average gross income. Not only are NWR’s average gross revenues very small but it has sustained average losses that are over three times those revenues,” the commission said in the most recent order.

NWR’s existence also depends heavily on loans from its board members, the FCC says.

“In addition, we take this opportunity to warn NWR that it could face proposed forfeitures in the future — regardless of its financial circumstances — if the forfeiture imposed herein does not serve as a sufficient deterrent, or if future violations evidence a pattern of deliberate disregard for the rules,” according to the FCC.

In its original order last summer, the commission said NWR willfully and repeatedly violated commission rules by operating translator K266BM in Olympia, Wash., at a variance from its licensed parameters between Dec. 4, 2019, and June 13, 2020. The commission in its final decision amended the dates of illegal operation to Dec. 4, 2019, through June 8, 2020.

The FCC says in 2013 it granted NWR a license to operate an FM translator at 10 watts on Channel 266 in Olympia, Wash. The 2013 license indicated that the NWR translator would be rebroadcasting KGHO(LP) in Hoquiam, Wash.

What followed were a series of modified applications from NWR, according to the background provided by the FCC.

NWR in August 2016 obtained a construction permit to increase the NWR translator’s ERP to 70 watts and change its primary station from KGHO(LP) to KGTK(AM), Olympia, Wash. Then, in 2017, at NWR’s request, the FCC modified the 2016 permit to specify an increased ERP of 250 watts.

Things were further complicated by additional petitions and applications filed by NWR. Further, the FCC granted and dismissed motions from a tapestry of filings, according to the historic timeline provided in the order. NWR blamed the six months when the translator operated out of compliance on technical issues and the pandemic.

A 2020 license application filed by NWR was met with objections from two for-profit broadcasters (Bustos Media Holdings and Bicoastal Media Licenses IV) that asserted the NWR translator was not operating as authorized, alleging NWR made false statements to the commission about its translator’s operations, and that NWR had violated the LPFM cross-ownership rule along with undergoing an unauthorized transfer of control.

The FCC rejected the Bustos and Bicoastal claims that NWR violated the cross-ownership rule and had undergone an unauthorized transfer of control, but found the non-profit had been operating K266BM without the proper authorization.

In a corresponding move, the FCC issued a decision in a related proceeding denying NWR’s petition for reconsideration to prevent Bustos from building FM translator K266CP in Auburn, Wash., which is also at 101.1 MHz. NWR, which is licensed to operate three additional FM translators, failed to convince the FCC that the Bustos translator would cause interference to its translator.

In its decision, the Media Bureau found NWR’s interference claim package was not rule-compliant.

“We again remind both Bustos and NWR that, should the Bustos Translator commence operation and cause actual interference to reception of the NWR Translator, such interference would be addressed” under a section of its rules, the FCC stated. 

Those rules prohibit an authorized FM translator station from continuing to operate if it causes legitimate interference to any full-service station or previously authorized secondary station, the FCC wrote in its decision. 

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The post Washington State Radio Broadcaster Avoids $20K FCC Fine appeared first on Radio World.

The Buyer’s Guide section looks at antennas, RF support and power protection.

Chris Brown prepares for his final NAB Show as the association’s head of events.

Frank Hertel revives a 1 kW FM transmitter with a failed power supply.

The FCC hears from industry stakeholders about the security of EAS and WEA.

And Nathan Simington says net neutrality principles should apply to ISPs and Big Tech alike.

Read it here.

The post Read the Dec. 20, 2023 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

She’s been a FCC Commissioner for three months, and perhaps a pivotal decisionmaker when it comes to the future of the Commission’s local ownership rules for Radio.

This could explain why the heads of Mid-West Family Broadcasting and Connoisseur Media were joined by one of Washington’s most high-profile communications attorneys for a Monday Zoom meeting with two members of Anna Gómez‘s office to discuss the 2018 Quadrennial Review — which the FCC is under a court order to complete in 10 days.

 

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For the past five years, he’s been the General Manager of Gray Television‘s WALB-10 in Albany, Ga., and siblings WGCW-TV and WTSG-TV, which are the market’s home for The CW Network and Telemundo, respectively.

Now, this Southwest Georgia native is heading to Tennessee.

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A helicopter pilot and a photographer working on behalf of the ABC Owned Stations broadcast TV property serving Philadelphia were killed Tuesday evening after their chopper crashed in Washington Township, N.J.

The incident occurred in the 8pm hour, as the helicopter was returning to WPVI-6 after an assignment on the Jersey Shore.

WPVI withheld the names of the deceased pending notification to next-of-kin of the incident.

That said, WPVI, known to viewers as “6ABC,” said of the two team members, “They have a long history with our station and have been working as part of the Action News team for years.”

WPVI reported on the incident Wednesday morning. “Our hearts are just broken for these men. They’re broken for their families,” Action News team member Katherine Scott said during her report from Shamong Township, N.J.. “We just can’t believe this has happened.”

The Federal Aviation Administration secured a heavy wooded area at approximately 3am Wednesday. New Jersey State Police discovered the wreckage. The cause of the crash is not known.

The helicopter was a 2013 American Eurocopter A S350 AStar, considered to be one of the best in its class. It was leased by WPVI from Marshville, N.C.-based U.S. Helicopters Inc., which has had a long history with the station.

A Wheatstone VoxPro system is being used at the new broadcast studio at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. The studio was recently completed by the Ryan Seacrest Foundation.

“Like the first Seacrest studios built at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in 2010 and all those that followed, the new studio will broadcast more than 30 hours of live content a week on closed-circuit TV throughout the hospital and include Wheatstone’s VoxPro recording and editing for song requests and other call-ins by hospital patients,” the manufacturer said in a press release.

The studio features designated phone lines that allow patients to call in to request songs. VoxPro controllers and software are used for live editing in on-air control rooms and newsrooms. They were donated for use in all 14 Seacrest studios by Wheatstone through Broadcasters General Store.

Other studios are in children’s hospitals in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, New York (Queens), Orlando, Philadelphia and Washington.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

The post Seacrest Studios Use VoxPro for Patient Call-Ins appeared first on Radio World.

Media Bureau allots Channel 225A at Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, as a Tribal Allotment and the community's first local service.

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