The VAB, the broadcast television industry’s sales advocacy organization, has released a White Paper that finds that, based on the input from more than 200 marketers, 92% of these ad budget decisionmakers are adopting audience-based buying — at least to some degree.
BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON LINKED IN!
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
This is one in a series of interviews with people who work in and around radio about the kinds of mics they love and why.
Rob Bertrand is senior director of technology for WAMU 88.5 in Washington.
Radio World: What is your personal favorite for radio on-air work, and what sets it apart for you?
Rob Bertrand: The Shure SM7B is one of the most versatile microphones out there that is hard to make sound bad. Its low-level output corrects for so many room distortions and background noise issues and it has a great balance of simultaneously sounding warm and crisp.
We use the Neumann BCM 104 in our host positions when we’re in the studio because it sounds consistent alongside the higher-end condensers found throughout NPR programming.
There is no presence effect so it is very forgiving of hosts who tend to operate from quite a distance of the microphone, however, it does require a very quiet studio to sound clean.
RW: What about remote work or other specialty applications?
Bertrand: We’re using a lot of SM7Bs in home setups right now, sometimes with external mic pres, because they are so forgiving of their environment. The SM58 is always a solid go-to for on-air and live usage.
Bertrand loves the long-handled version of the Shure SM63 for field interviews.My interview favorite will always be the Shure SM63LB.
RW: For someone making a microphone decision, any tips to share or common misconceptions to dispel?
Bertrand: Start simple. Use your ears. Be clear for yourself about what you’re trying to achieve, then go out and get different opinions.
In trying to find a new standard field reporter microphone for WCBS in the mid-2000s, I ordered about a dozen different handheld mics. I went out to different environments throughout New York City and recorded with them, wanting to find a nice presence for the subject but sensitive enough to provide reasonable nat sound.
We eventually landed on the SM63LB, which despite being omnidirectional, sounds great when used up close in an interview, with little-to-no handling noise. It gave WCBS a nice kick to its long-time field sound, enabled us to roll out a consistent mic, and gave the reporters an easy tool for recording better audio in the field.
As we deployed digital recorders and laptops, this enabled the station to provide a whole new level of rich audio to its listeners — whether listening on AM, HD, or streaming.
In my public radio life today, we have the time and ability to use more resources and a wider variety of microphones to deliver that polish, but I’ll always remember working with a team of reporters and news management to make that decision about the singular SM63LB for our reporters. I think it’s what they are still using today and it was a team decision based entirely on listening tests.
I think you want something that’s easy to use, holds up to the abuse of daily life, and is versatile in different situations. Marketing materials can help set you in the right direction, but you’ve really got to do the work of testing and listening to know for sure what sound you are crafting.
Read more of Radio World’s coverage of microphones.
The post My Favorite Mics: Rob Bertrand appeared first on Radio World.
U.S. radio audiences continue to grow back toward where they were when the pandemic took off.
Nielsen Audio announced this morning, “The May 2021 PPM survey saw yet another month of gains in radio listening across the aggregate of markets as America continues to reopen and consumers return to pre-pandemic routines.”
The research company said radio’s weekly reach is at its highest levels since March 2020 and has been growing for the past four months.
“In May 2021, radio’s weekly reach surpassed 122 million weekly listeners, within 2 million of where it was before the lockdown precautions took effect last year.”
Average Quarter-Hour (AQH) audience in May also saw its highest levels since March 2020, though again not quite back to where it was.
“AQH audience levels have increased 11 percent since January as vaccinations have rolled out, leading to a gradual return to pre-pandemic routines including dining out, traveling and more normal commutes.”
The company says that from a weekly reach perspective, “the radio audience in May 2021 is 8% larger than the same month from one year ago, while for AQH the audience is now 20% larger than May of 2020.” May listening gains were spread across dayparts.
As for trends within formats, Nielsen Audio said it sees familiar seasonal listening patterns “corresponding with the shift towards summer.” Formats on the upside include classic hits, Hot AC and all-sports.
The post Nielsen Has Good News in May Numbers appeared first on Radio World.
Speaker Specialist KRK has announced the addition of two monitors to its Classic line.
Classic 7 and Classic 8 (pictured) join smaller sibling Classic 5.
[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]
The two new monitors match the Classic 5 in most features — biamplified with A/B amplifiers, one-inch soft dome tweeters, bass boost, high- and low-frequency controls, passive front-firing bass port, XLR, 1/4-inch and RCA connections.
The nominal difference between the two is the 7- and 8-inch KRK yellow glass aramid fiber woofers, respectively. The Classic 7 uses a 48W woofer amplifier and a 25W tweeter amp while the Classic 8 uses a 75W bass amp with the 25W tweeter amplifier.
Info: www.krkmusic.com
The post KRK Adds to Speaker Line appeared first on Radio World.
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association, has announced the hiring of Kathy Stieler as the director of Safety, Health & Compliance.
It is a new position and she starts immediately.
[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]
Stieler has been in similar positions in a variety of related industries over many decades, including, most recently, director, ERI Installations and Safety since 2012.
According to a release, “Stieler will be tasked with directing, developing and overseeing the general health and safety policies and procedures of the association to ensure its safety materials and best practices documents are in compliance with OSHA and other applicable state and local regulations and standards.”
In addition, she “will also be available to provide technical subject matter expertise to the association’s member companies, as well as helping these businesses navigate the oftentimes onerous compliance onboarding process.”
NATE Chairman Jimmy Miller said, “Through the establishment of this director of Safety, Health & Compliance position, NATE is doubling down on safety and investing directly into our growing membership of companies. Kathy will be a tremendous asset and I encourage member companies to leverage her expertise to enhance their respective safety cultures.”
Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post Kathy Stieler Joins NATE appeared first on Radio World.
Nielsen has just released its PPM Audio Software Encoder for FM stations, allowing more broadcasters to move away from a hardware-based audio watermarking process.
“The release of the PPM Audio Software Encoder for FM stations follows the successful completion of a live field evaluation in the March and April measurement periods,” the company wrote in a note to clients.
It had already released the Audio Software encoder for AM stations earlier.
It says the software encoder allows a station to perform its PPM encoding in products from audio processor manufacturers, “enabling opportunities for cloud-based broadcast operations, reduction of rack space in your facilities and simplification of your station’s workflows.”
The company has published a list of certified vendors that includes Orban, Telos/Omnia and Wheatstone products.
In a recent commentary in Radio World, Nielsen Audio Director of Product Management Nick Mannion, wrote: “We took the PPM encoding algorithm (Enhanced CBET) out of the hardware that it lives in today and made it available in the form of a software development kit (SDK). This SDK is then made available to industry participants enabling them to integrate PPM encoding into their products.”
Once an integration is complete, he continued, Nielsen works with the manufacturer of the product to perform a certification process. “This … ensures that the PPM encoding generated by the manufacturer’s product meets all of Nielsen’s encoding quality standards.”
Nielsen plans to expand its PPM Audio Software Encoding to include digital streams later this year.
The post Nielsen Releases PPM Software Encoder for FMs appeared first on Radio World.
On Dec. 23, 2020, iHeartMedia shares finished the day at $11.99. It was a good finish, as IHRT in early July was trading in the mid-$6 range.
With Wednesday’s Closing Bell on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect market, investors who have had IHRT for the past year will certainly be celebrating.
Why? They’ve more than quadrupled their dollars.
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
A low-powered TV station offering Azteca América programming to Nevada’s second-largest market is being sold.
It marks an 11-year end of ownership by a group that grabbed the facility from the bankrupt Equity Media Holdings in 2009.
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — An entertainment industry legal veteran who has been the associate general counsel at Amazon Studios until today has returned to Davis Wright Tremaine LLP after more than 20 years.
It’s a return for an individual who was a DWT associate in the late 1990s.
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
An “expansive collaborative effort” is now underway to launch NEXTGEN TV service in the Nation’s Capital, and it is calling on the academic resources and tech team of Howard University‘s public broadcasting TV station in Washington, D.C., to get the ball rolling.
BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON TWITTER!
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
From atop Red Mountain in Birmingham, a 130-watt FM translator blankets the metropolitan area of Alabama’s biggest city with Alternative music and the Premiere Networks’ syndicated offering The Woody Show in morning drive.
This microstation has been on the air since 2017. Soon, it will disappear. In its place: Christian Contemporary music.
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
Digigram introduced the Iqoya X/Link-MPX codec, intended for delivery of an FM MPX composite signal to one or several transmitter sites.
“Currently, most of the studio-to-transmitter links for FM transmissions rely on the transport of the baseband audio signal over IP networks,” the company noted in its release. “This requires the FM composite MPX signal to be generated at each transmitter site with devices such as sound processors and RDS encoders.”
[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]
It cited growing demand for the transport of the MPX signal to be generated at the studio, “since it will help reduce the number of required equipment at the transmitter sites, optimize the global power consumption and maintenance costs.”
The Digigram X/Link-MPX supports analog MPX and digital MPX AES192, allowing analog-to-analog, analog-to-digital, digital-to-analog and digital-to-digital distribution of the MPX signal.
Optional µMPX compression is available to reduce the cost of transportation by using inexpensive network links.
Features include Forward Error Correction and redundant dual streaming with time diversity in PCM to ensure reliable transportation of IP streams. The codec uses the same hardware platform as the Iqoya X/Link range, and features internal redundant power supply units.
Info: www.digigram.com
Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post Digigram Launches Codec for MPX Over IP appeared first on Radio World.
One of the nation’s key advocacy groups for African American broadcasters has called on Members of Congress to support the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution that would “protect” AM and FM radio stations from “being forced to pay significant additional new performance royalties.”
BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON FACEBOOK!
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
The Spanish Broadcasting System has a new president for the first time in 36 years, though long-time incumbent Raúl Alarcón remains at the helm as chairman and CEO.
Albert Rodriguez will succeed Alarcón as president of SBS.
“Mr. Rodríguez will retain his current title of chief operating officer and will report to Mr. Alarcón, who will continue in his position as chairman and chief executive officer.”
[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]
The company said the president role means managing operations and “overseeing the future growth and financial performance of the company’s radio, TV, digital and experiential businesses and market-leading brands.”
Alarcón has led SBS since 1985. The company describes itself as “the nation’s largest Hispanic-owned and targeted media and entertainment entity.” Its assets include New York station WSKQ(FM), “America’s most-listened-to station in any language and the #1 Spanish-language station in the world.” It has stations in other big Hispanic markets like Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Puerto Rico, with formats like Tropical, regional Mexican, Spanish adult contemporary, top 40 and Urbano. It also includes the Aire radio network, LaMusica app, MegaTV network and a concert promotion business.
Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post SBS Elevates Albert Rodriguez to President appeared first on Radio World.
Educational Media Foundation has scooped up yet another station, as it solidifies its ranking as the No. 2 licensee of radio stations in the U.S. behind iHeartMedia.
It’s grabbing an Indiana Class B1 FM, bringing the cities of Normal and Bloomington into EMF’s expanding universe of Christian Contemporary Music networks.
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
With a three-tower transmitter array putting a market-wide signal over the Kansas City metropolitan area, a Class B AM has been serving this Mid-America market with “Real Country” programming.
That’s poised to change, as a Hispanic-focused broadcast entity is purchasing this facility.
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
Nearly half of Gen Zs aren’t old enough to drive a car, yet they are driving global marketing and retail strategies around the world.
It’s no wonder: Gen Z is poised to be the most influential generation in human history. The oldest members of Gen Z are just graduating from college, while its youngest members are still in grade school. Despite that, they account for 20% of all U.S. consumers, with an estimated direct buying power of $143 billion.
Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
Summit Technology Group said it has a new partnership with the Independent Broadcasters Association in which it can provide virtual or on-site broadcast engineering services to members of IBA.
“Effective June 16, all association members will have direct access to the national team of broadcast, electrical and RF engineers at Summit Technology Group,” the company said in a press release. IBA members can access the services as needed or through a subscription.
Members can view service offerings, sign up for routine service and request emergency support from within an account dashboard. An AR-based video conferencing platform allows members to connect with Summit technicians.
The announcement was made by Summit President Paul Stewart and IBA President/Executive Director Ron Stone.
Stone said the relationship will be helpful to members when “so many independents are located in areas where the days of having an on-site engineer are long gone, and even a contract engineer may be hours away.”
The post IBA Names Summit as Tech Partner appeared first on Radio World.
Evanov Communications recently switched on hybrid HD Radio on an AM station in Ontario. It’s believed to be the first AM to use HD Radio in Canada.
The company operates 16 radio stations across the country, including in the major markets of Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. Twelve of those are on FM, four on AM.
CHLO is in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto. The station is a Class B station broadcasting on 530 kHz with 1000W daytime operations and 250W nighttime to a non-directional antenna. Much of its programming caters to the area’s large South Asian population.
Director of IT & Engineering Paul Bury answered Radio World’s questions about it.
Radio World: What is the purpose of turning on HD Radio, is this a test, or a permanent change?
Paul Bury: We’re hoping that turning on HD will help combat the growing problems of noise and subpar audio quality that has plagued the AM broadcast band for many years.
With growing competition from FM broadcasters and online streaming, the listeners have grown accustomed to higher-fidelity audio and are slowly turning away from AM. We’re hoping that higher-quality audio will translate to higher hours tuned.
Because HD Radio on AM is new to us, we are treating it as a test at this moment. However, we hope that this will become a permanent change and a way to revitalize the historic AM band.
RW: How many cars in your market do you believe have HD Radio-capable AM receivers?
Bury: We have not seen many local stats showing a number of HD Radio-capable receivers. However, according to Xperi, there are more than 4 million HD-equipped vehicles in Canada, and one in three new cars sold in Canada every day come equipped with an HD receivers.
Over 30 auto manufacturers now ship their cars to Canada with HD decks — granted, some no longer include the AM broadcast band, but the majority still do. It’s safe to say that for the most part, if a vehicle comes equipped with FM HD, it will also have AM HD.
Since most receivers switch to HD signal automatically, we noticed with our FM HD operations that most listeners didn’t realize they were listening to the HD signal or that HD was even included in their car radio.
RW: Are you using the hybrid AM mode, or all-digital?
Bury: We are using the hybrid mode as we did not want to turn off the signal to those listeners who may not have HD-capable receivers yet. If tests in hybrid mode turn out to be positive, we will look into testing the full digital mode in certain dayparts, but as of right now, we’re not anticipating a full shutdown of our analog transmission.
A car tuner displays CHLO.RW: Hybrid on AM in the United States did not succeed, with early adopters having a lot of issues with noise and interference, especially at night. Is there cause to believe it will work now?
Bury: The interference and noise issues are highly dependent on the broadcaster’s frequency.
We have specifically chosen CHLO to be our test station because of the frequency that it uses. Being at the very bottom end of the AM dial, 530 kHz is being utilized by very few stations in North America. This means that the interference levels are very low.
During our application process with ISED, Canada’s spectrum management body, we were asked to notify stations within 500 km of us on co-channel and first-adjacent frequencies. In Canada, we found that most of these stations have either gone dark, or switched to FM or other frequencies. Other broadcasters may not be so lucky.
Our own tests do confirm that the HD signal does not cope very well with any kind of interference past the 10 mV/m contour, including that which is generated by the new, fully electric transit busses the city has started rolling out.
RW: Is it correct to say that this is Canada’s first AM IBOC station?
Bury: Yes, CHLO is the first station using IBOC technology on the AM dial in Canada. Other broadcasters, us included, have chosen to simulcast their HD stations on HD subchannels of their FM sister stations or repeaters. Even though some have investigated setting up AM IBOC operations, for their own reasons, they never did.
RW: What is the digital air chain?
Bury: The air chain consists of a 900 MHz STL feeding into a Orban 9300 workhorse audio processor for the analog portion and an Omnia One for the HD portion. We started off running both on the Orban 9300 but found that the high frequencies were not very pleasant to listen to. The combined HD and analog signal then comes out of a Nautel NX3 transmitter running at 1000W during the day, 250W at night in analog into a single-stick 740-foot antenna.
RW: What are your observations about the signal quality and coverage so far?
Bury: So far, we noticed that the HD coverage is excellent out to about the 10 mV contour in the city limits, which perfectly covers our city of license and primary target area. In the countryside and away from human-made interference, the HD receivers have a pretty solid lock out to about 5 mV. Thus far we have not received any DX reports showing lock on skywave propagation and we’re waiting patiently for those to roll in.
RW: What comments have you had from listeners?
Bury: We’ve received nothing but positive comments from our listeners, mostly praising us for the added program data. Several have noticed the higher-quality audio, saying it’s comparable to online streaming and “less muffled.” Several of our advertisers have also noticed the improved audio quality and have shared their positive feedback.
RW: A DXer board posted a complaint that the signal is “wiping out 518 kHz Navtex.” Is that the case and what if anything should be done about that?
Bury: We have not received any reports of interference to other services nor broadcasters yet, so this is the first time I am hearing about it. We will investigate all reports of interference as is required during our testing phase by ISED.
Luckily, there are many things that can be done to mitigate such interference. We can play with the power of each IBOC sideband or even turn one off if required. We have a message playing on the air asking for reports of any interference via email to hd@am530.ca. The same address can also be used to send us reception reports.
RW: What else should we know about the project?
Bury: This has been a very exciting project for us, it was also a good learning curve to overcome. One of the challenging parts to the project was alignment of audio processing so that the switch from digital to analog in the weak reception areas is not too shocking to the ears. This is still a work in progress but we’re already seeing great results.
The post Evanov Tries Out Hybrid AM HD Radio in Toronto appeared first on Radio World.
Please show your support by using the Ko-Fi link at the bottom of the page. Thank you for supporting REC's efforts!
