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Media Bureau removes certain vacant FM allotment channels that were auctioned through our FM competitive bidding process, and are no longer considered vacant FM allotments

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The North American Broadcasters Association has released the NABA Radio In-car User Experience (UX) Guidelines.

The document was produced by the NABA Radio Committee in collaboration with the WorldDAB Automotive Committee.

“This is a ‘North American version’ of the latest edition of the WorldDAB UX Guidelines, which have also just been updated,” NABA stated in the announcement.

“These guidelines have been created to inform automotive manufacturers and broadcasters on how to deliver the best possible radio user experience and are largely based on the results of consumer research. Consumer use cases in the UX Guidelines include users wanting to find radio easily in the car media system, to find radio stations easily, for the list of stations to be up to date, to be able to easily set a station as a pre-set, and to keep listening to a station if it is available.”

A comparison of the new NABA and WorldDAB UX Guidelines

For each of those use cases, the guidelines put forth a series of recommendations. So, for example, to help meet consumers’ desire to find radio easily, they state that car designs should include a permanent “Radio” button on the dash, console or top-level menu; that selecting “Radio” should default to HD Radio where available or go to a menu where radio platforms can be chosen; that in a hybrid radio system, the best available platform signal will be automatically selected, minimizing use of a station’s audio stream; that the factory default setting for HD Radio should be ON, but default behavior should be settable by the consumer, with separate settings for AM and FM bands; that if there is no “Radio” button, selecting a station is only two clicks from the media home screen; and that a mechanism should be provided for no more than “two-click” switching between a projection system like Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and the car radio.

NABA Director-General Michael McEwen expressed thanks to WorldDAB for its collaboration. “We have been able to efficiently leverage their findings and apply them to the North American market, and the result is a more complete picture of radio listening for manufacturers.”

The documents also provide input on hybrid radio, including “service following,” improved visuals and the potential for interaction, it said. Here’s a link again to the guidelines.

Meanwhile, a new revision is out for the WorldDAB Radio UX Guidelines, first developed in 2018.

Those were created by the WorldDAB Automotive Working Group to provide clear guidance on how to deliver the best-possible digital radio user experience. New material includes hybrid radio; voice controls and phonemes; data on in-car radio listening; and service lists.

The post “In-Car User Experience” Is Focus of NABA, WorldDAB appeared first on Radio World.

Chalk up COVID-19 pandemic-fueled supply chain issues for the latest audience measurement concern to involve the nation’s dominant provider of ratings for radio and television stations.

Nielsen has just informed its clients that getting Portable People Meters (PPMs) has become problematic. As such, reaching its sample targets won’t likely happen.

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The most recent effort by the FCC to ferret out redundant or outdated broadcast radio regulations is expected to culminate at the commission’s next monthly meeting.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel this week released the agency’s February Open Meeting agenda, which includes plans for the commission to finalize a proposal introduced in July 2021 to clean up a series of technical rules.

It’s the continuation of a media modernization initiative that began several years ago under former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The FCC says the latest changes are expected to “reduce any potential confusion, alleviate unnecessary burdens, and make sure our rules reflect the latest technical requirements.”

The FCC voted unanimously last year adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking identifying seven technical rules that broadcast radio experts say will benefit radio broadcasters and allow them to operate more efficiently. The list of proposals included an update to the noncommercial FM community of license coverage requirements and eliminating the requirement that applicants demonstrate the effect of any FM applicant transmitting antenna on nearby FM or TV broadcast antennas.

The FCC’s proposal also calls for the elimination of the maximum rated power limit rule for AM transmitters, which one veteran broadcast engineer told Radio World previously “no one has paid any attention to for decades.”

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Another longtime FCC watcher described the technical rules update as “safe and sane deregulatory efforts” that constitute a “clearing of the regulatory underbrush.”

The FCC also plans to update the signal strength contour overlap requirements for noncommercial Class D FMs to bring those rules in line with the contour overlap requirements for all other noncommercial FMs. In addition, it proposes modifying the definition of AM fill-in area when an FM translator simulcasts an AM station to create consistency across different rules governing fill-in translator transmitter siting.

The NAB was generally supportive of all but one of the seven proposed changes, according to comments it filed in the FCC proceeding (MB 21-263). NAB wrote it respectfully disagrees with the FCC’s proposal to eliminate the regulatory requirement to consider proximate transmitting facilities. NAB believes eliminating the rule is “tantamount to instructing applicants not to worry about the potential effects of their operation on existing stations.”

NAB continued: “We submit that this requirement provides an important legal tool for defining interference protection rights.”

The group also offered the following caveat to its overall support: “NAB urges the commission to stipulate that any rule changes adopted in this proceeding should not cause any existing stations to be in violation of the commission rules and that any station adversely affected by such rules changes be grandfathered to the extent necessary to avoid being forced to modify their operations.”

The NAB concluded its comments on the FCC’s proposed technical changes by writing it “appreciated the commission’s goal of eliminating or updating unnecessary or outmoded regulations and supported the changes proposed in the NPRM.”

The FCC’s February Open Meeting is scheduled for Feb. 18.

The post FCC Set to Finalize Changes to Radio Technical Rules appeared first on Radio World.

An asset exchange agreement has been reached that will see the licensee of two Pennsylvania AM radio stations and an FM translator trade the properties in exchange of two different AMs and a pair of associated translators.

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This year’s World Radio Day celebrates the trust, accessibility and long-term viability of the radio industry.

Feb. 13, 2022, marks the 11th annual celebration of World Radio Day, which is organized by the United Nations’ UNESCO organization. This year’s theme is “Radio and Trust” in recognition of radio’s standing as one of the most trusted media sources around. Even as various studies reveal a global decline in trust in the internet and social media networks, people continue to see radio as one of the most trustworthy news sources, the organization said.

“Part of people’s trust in radio is due to its low cost and ubiquitous nature,” UNESCO said in a statement about the upcoming World Radio Day. “Despite digitalization being a global tendency, digital access to information is far from being equal with huge differences remaining between regions and between communities.”

Compare that to radio, the organization said, a medium that remains affordable and can be listened to everywhere, even when electricity or connectivity are not reliable. “Radio is thereby one of the most popular means of communications, used by an overwhelming majority of people,” the organization said.

UNESCO suggested in its announcement several themes that can be celebrated on World Radio Day, including trust in radio journalism, the accessibility of radio and the viability of radio stations.

Radio has a key role to play in several areas, UNESCO said, beginning with producing independent and high-quality content, providing information to a diverse group of individuals and working to transform loyal audience engagement into financial stability, especially for small, medium or nonprofit stations.

World Radio Day got its start in 2011 when member states of UNESCO adopted Feb. 13 — the anniversary of the 1946 founding of United Nations Radio — as World Radio Day in an effort to raise greater awareness of the importance of radio, to encourage decision makers to provide access to information via radio and to enhance networking and international cooperation among broadcasters.

The post World Radio Day Focuses on Trust for 2022 appeared first on Radio World.

(Image credit: Public Knowledge)

Gigi Sohn, the Democratic nominee for the FCC told the commission this week that she would recuse herself from television broadcast copyright and retrans issues if her nomination for commissioner is approved.

Sohn’s nomination has garnered some pushback from broadcasters who object to her role as a member of the board of Locast, a streaming service that was found by a court to violate broadcast copyright laws. In add

In a letter to acting FCC general counsel Michelle Ellison and obtained by TV Tech sister publication NextTV, Sohn said the recusal would last for the first three years of her term, but that she would not recuse herself from other media related issues such as media ownership or transfer of control of broadcast, cable, and satellite companies.

Sohn told Ellison that in 2010, as president of Public Knowledge, she signed a Petition for Rulemaking to change rules governing retransmission rules and that in order “to avoid any appearance of impropriety and in interest of ensuring that the public has full confidence that policymakers will make decisions free of bias,” she would voluntarily recuse herself when the FCC considered retrans and broadcast copyright issues.

The NAB welcomed Sohn’s decision.

“Ms. Sohn’s recusal agreement resolves the concerns NAB raised regarding her nomination. NAB appreciates Ms. Sohn’s willingness to seriously consider our issues regarding retransmission consent and broadcast copyright, and to address those concerns in her recusal. We look forward to the Senate moving forward with Ms. Sohn’s confirmation and are eager to work with her and the full complement of commissioners in the very near future,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt.

The Commerce Committee is scheduled to vote on Sohn’s nomination next week.

A version of this story first appeared on our sister publication TV Technology’s website.

The post Sohn Says She Will Recuse Herself from Broadcast Copyright, Retrans Issues appeared first on Radio World.

Radio World’s latest ebook is the biggest yet, almost 50 pages chock-full of photos of new studios recently built by leading broadcast organizations.

Yes, new radio studios are still being built during the pandemic, and here’s the proof. Check out the equipment and design choices made by your peers who solved technical problems and overcame challenging deadlines in these exciting buildouts.

You’ll read about new facilities at Audacy Miami, 77 WABC in New York, Nashville Public Radio, CBC/Radio-Canada, Educational Media Foundation in Tennessee, IB3 in Spain, Rider University’s WRRC, Hubbard Cincinnati, the Huskers Radio Network, Midwest Family in South Bend, Urban One Atlanta, The Station of the Cross in Buffalo, University of Sherbrook’s CFAK, Cumulus Kansas City and Cumulus Lake Charles.

Read it here.

The post Spectacular Radio Studios: A Radio World Ebook appeared first on Radio World.

As RBR+TVBR first reported in December 2021, ViacomCBS is investing in the build-out of a news department at its owned-and-operated CBS station serving Detroit, Ann Arbor and Western Ontario.

Now, it has selected a local news and community affairs veteran to serve as its News Director.

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Nexstar Media Group’s Board of Directors have taken an action that’s become something of a rarity in the broadcast media world.

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“The way your face and body appear on a Zoom call can cast the wrong first impression,” notes public relations veteran and “Zoom expert” Rosemary Ravinal. As she notes in this fresh column, “The rule of thirds will help you set up your video, so you show up on the screen looking professional, alert, and ready to do business.”

 

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Gimme Radio announced $3 million in funding in a round led by iHeartMedia.

Gimme is a digital radio service for artists and music fans. It provides a venue where artists choose the music and fans show support through tipping, merchandise sales and vinyl subscriptions.

iHeartMedia joins The Orchard, Concord, Metal Blade Records, Riser House Entertainment and Quartz Hill Records, who also have backed Gimme. Gimme said iHeartMedia’s investment enables the company to extend its reach to more fans and genres while offering iHeartMedia a way to build communities around its own programming and talent.

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Gimme noted that more than 1,200 artists host shows on two stations, Gimme Metal and Gimme Country.

The Gimme Radio executive team, led by Tyler Lenane, CEO and co-founder, consists of music industry executives with experience at digital music services including Beats, Apple Music, Google Play Music, and Napster (formerly Rhapsody).

In a statement announcing the funding and partnership, Lenane said, “Creating rich communities of artists and fans who can have meaningful conversations, build real relationships and transact directly with one another is how the world will experience music and support artists.”

Chris Williams, GM and chief product officer at iHeartRadio, said the company was pleased to help extend the connection between artists and fans, as well as enabling Gimme to reach the iHeartRadio audience.

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Gimme Radio Raises $3M, Partners With iHeartMedia appeared first on Radio World.

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As FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sees it, the Commission’s current rules for full-power and translator radio stations “contain a number of provisions that are redundant, outdated, or in conflict with other rules.”

Come February 18, she plans to do something about that.

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As of January 25, the President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of radio broadcasting industry pure-play Saga Communications has a new compensation and employment agreement with the company he leads.

A “third amendment” to an employment agreement first signed in June 2011 by Ed Christian has been finalized. It extends the term of the original agreement from March 31, 2025 to March 31, 2027. It also makes various minor changes to Christian’s agreement pursuant to Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code.

The biggest takeaway from the new deal involving Christian, who has been CEO of Saga since 1986: Should there be any change in control at the company, he’d get a lump-sum payment.

Christian is presently 75 years of age. According to the Saga 2021 10-K filing it made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, for the three years ended December 31, 2020 Christian’s average annual compensation, as defined by the employment agreement, was approximately $1,862,000.

On December 14, 2018, Christian agreed to defer approximately $100,000 of his 2019 salary to be paid 100% on January 3, 2020. On December 6, 2019, Christian agreed to defer approximately $100,000 of his 2020 salary to be paid 100% on January 15, 2021. On December 16, 2020, Christian agreed to defer approximately $100,000 of his 2021 salary which was scheduled to be paid 100% on January 15, 2022.

The National Association of Broadcasters had been pushing for President Biden’s FCC nominee Gigi Sohn to recuse herself from several broadcast issues. The NAB was concerned about her time as a board member of Locast, a nonprofit which was ordered to shut down after illegally streaming programming.

In a letter to FCC general counsel Michele Ellison Sohn has now agreed to recuse herself from matters involving retransmission consent or television broadcast copyright for the first three years of her term. She has also agreed to recuse herself for four years from a docket concerning the rules governing retranmission consent.

While it’s still unclear if Sohn has the votes to be confirmed by The Senate, NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt said that’s good enough for the NAB. “Ms. Sohn’s recusal agreement resolves the concerns NAB raised regarding her nomination. NAB appreciates Ms. Sohn’s willingness to seriously consider our issues regarding retransmission consent and broadcast copyright, and to address those concerns in her recusal. We look forward to the Senate moving forward with Ms. Sohn’s confirmation and are eager to work with her and the full complement of commissioners in the very near future.”

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has accused Sohn of supporting free speech only if it involves speech by liberals.

— Ed Ryan

(Credit: Getty Images)

The authors are director of technology and product manager, respectively, for StreamGuys.

Every engineer and station manager knows that actively monitoring their broadcast operations is critical. Techniques for monitoring over-the-air broadcast signal chains have been honed over many decades and may be well understood.

But streaming distribution brings with it a new set of potential points of failure that must be monitored in different ways. Understanding each step of how your streamed content goes from point A to point B, and how you can monitor each of those steps, is essential to fixing problems if they occur.

Stream monitoring for radio broadcasters starts with source production in the studio and extends all the way out to the audience consuming the content. At StreamGuys, we talk in terms of four primary layers of the signal chain: content production; the facility network that connects the production to a streaming service provider or CDN; the service layer that hosts and streams the content to the world; and the application layer where listeners access the content.

The content layer

Streaming radio content essentially takes one of two forms: on-demand content such as podcasts, or live streams as a corollary of traditional linear broadcasts.

Verifying on-demand content is fairly straightforward, as you’re only really worried about whether the media file is “good” — for example, whether it is encoded in the correct codec and bitrate, with proper metadata, and normalized correctly for its purpose (such as the TD1008 spec for speech-centric content).

Validating live content is more complicated as it requires multiple facets to be verified in near real time, starting with playout from the automation system. Normalization and digital signal processing may occur prior to the encoder, and you need to ensure the encoder receives a valid audio signal that is true to the producer’s intent. The output of the encoder itself — MP3, AAC, or even HLS — must also be validated.

The network layer

Eduardo Martinez

The network is how your signal is transported to your streaming media provider or CDN, which in turn reflects that signal out to the world. The network comprises the switches, routers and gateways that make up your local area network (LAN) at the origination source, and also interacts with a dedicated internet service provider (ISP) connection for uploading streams from the encoder.

Tools like Ping, Traceroute and PingPlotter should be used constantly to monitor the consistency of the network and ensure connectivity to the outside world. You should be monitoring against the points of presence where your CDN is ingesting your streams. Generic speed tests don’t offer useful perspective, as they don’t accurately represent the path between your network and the service layer to which you’re broadcasting.

Persistent tracing provides the operational visibility necessary to identify intermittent issues. This long-term approach to monitoring the health of your network enables you to correlate issues reported by listeners — such as stream buffering at specific times of day — against network events such as packet loss or jitter on the link between the studio and CDN. Such data can help when working with your ISP to resolve such issues.

The service layer

Robert Minnix

After the live feed reaches your CDN or you have uploaded file-based media file to your CMS, the service layer is the delivery mechanism that distributes your content to your audience. It consists of multiple purpose-built streaming servers and usually is operated by a CDN or streaming media company, spanning multiple points of presence globally.

For monitoring purposes, look at the service layer as if you are part of your audience. First, ensure you can connect to the stream from your location, like a listener in your own DMA. From there, cast a wider net to ensure the stream is available from other parts of the country, or even globally. Automated monitoring agents can be set up in different geographic areas and even on specific consumer networks to help narrow down issues affecting only specific groups of listeners.

In addition to verifying that streams are accessible, you also want to ensure listeners are correctly receiving your audio. Silence monitoring is an important aspect of that, and can help detect issues with the automation system or encoder. The silence detector “listens” to the stream, and if it falls below a particular audio level for longer than a specified time threshold, triggers an alert. Audience measurement can also help identify issues, as sudden dips in traffic can correlate to technical issues with your streams.

The application layer

The application layer is essentially any mechanism the audience can use to interact with your content. This could be via your website using various browsers; it could be a dedicated mobile app; or it could be through increasingly popular smart speakers.

Monitoring the application layer comes down to verifying proper playback of your content. Are there any audio issues that weren’t present in the source, but are audible through the player? Such problems may be platform specific. For example, the audio specifications you’re delivering might be fine in one browser but not in another.

Analyzing the user experience is also important, as how people interact with your content — such as voice commands — can impact their engagement.

There isn’t yet a great, automated way of testing the human experience. Manual testing is still the best way to verify that your player is outputting the right content properly in various locations, and that commands are fulfilling the interactions you want your consumers to have.

While you should obviously perform your own testing, you can supplement it with feedback from people who are essentially constantly monitoring the application layer for you — your audience! Pay close attention to their feedback, even unique problems you haven’t heard of elsewhere. They may be the clues you need to track down problems elsewhere in the chain.

The post Streaming Monitoring: Media Operations in the Digital Age appeared first on Radio World.

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