Industry News

A recently divorced friend of public relations veteran Rosemary Ravinal who was browsing her feed of prospects on a dating app said she liked one gentleman because he exuded “executive presence.” Ravinal asked herself the following question: If the term “executive presence” is a measure of desirability on a dating site based on a static image, does that lessen the importance of those qualities in the business world? To satisfy her curiosity, Ravinal consulted a few friends at recruiting firms.

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Telestream, a provider of digital media tools and workflow products owned by Genstar Capital, has purchased a live event hosting and distribution platform used by Fortune 500 companies and others to stream content to their customers, employees, and members.

As such, Sherpa Digital Media’s platform is now fully integrated with Telestream’s offerings.

Telestream CEO Dan Castles notes, “Sherpa Digital Media has built a solid platform that many rely upon to stream their live, interactive events, and we intend to continue its development to expand into new areas such as using our Wirecast product to produce events distributed on the platform.”

Sherpa Digital Media allows customers to create live events and webinars.

The platform includes breakout rooms, video hosting, marketing automation integration, secure streaming, and the ability to scale up to hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Sherpa Digital Media is a privately held company headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. The team includes a remote workforce which will be fully integrated into the Telestream family.

Existing customers can expect to see additional resources being deployed to support the platform around the world.

A new Wells Fargo Securities report gives linear media a big boost, while lowering expectations for the software industry.

It has much merit, given the financial institution’s track record on coverage of broadcast media companies with publicly traded shares. And, the report provides media executives with further ammo in their fight against local digital.

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Dear RW:

Your article about grounding in the Rocky Mountains brings to mind a moment dating back to the early 1960s, when I was ham radio operator K7VPK and attending ASU/Tempe’s radio and TV program.

One of my experiences at that early age was meeting members of the “Mummy Mountain Radio Club.” Among them was Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, ham radio call sign K7UGA.

I was invited to visit the club up in Scottsdale north of Tempe; when I did I was amazed at what I saw. All high-frequency operating bands had their own operating rooms/positions in a custom-built “clubhouse,” the members of which included Goldwater, the CEO of the Donnelley Press in Chicago and other heavy hitters.

The estimated cost invested in building the clubhouse and obtaining equipment was north of $100,000, equivalent to nearly a million dollars today. Each ham band (80 meters, 40 meters, 20 meters, etc.) had its own operating room and complete Collins Kilowatt console. Simply the best of the best!

Now to the relevant part.

Since grounding was such a problem in mountainous Scottsdale, the question was how to be grounded effectively. Each operating position and custom antenna for each band to be worked needed to be grounded well for operating efficiency and safety.

The engineers installing the antennas suggested that the club members simply tap into a copper vein there on Mummy Mountain.

I was told that this took a bit of digging but it was done. The resulting electrical ground turned out, I was told, to be the best possible solution to the problem … in fact, an exceptional one.

Ham radio? Sen. Goldwater and his friends made sure they had nothing but the best; and they produced signals from the MMRC that were heard around the world. As a matter of fact, the MMRC facility was used to run phone patches for GIs in Vietnam as well as Goldwater’s home station on Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale for several years.

Don Watson, W5TNA is with NewsTalkRadio.com in Pensacola, Fla.

Send Letters to the Editor at mailto:radioworld@futurenet.com

The post Letter: Good Ground Was All Around appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC wants to know what you think about possibly modifying the Emergency Alert System to provide “persistent alerts” in extreme emergencies, and how such alerts might work on radio stations and other audio platforms.

Providing persistent alerts is one of several recommendations that were made to the commission by FEMA for improvements to EAS.

FEMA’s recommendations are in addition to alerting changes recently adopted by the commission in June. At that time the FCC issued a further notice of proposed rulemaking to explore FEMA’s ideas.

In addition to persistent alerts, FEMA thinks the FCC should should rename certain EAS terms like EAN and PEP to help public awareness.

The deadlines to comment on the proposed changes have now been set. Comments in PS Docket 15-94 are due Oct. 19, with replies due Nov. 18.

Persistent alerts

A big part of FEMA’s recommendations involves “persistent alerts.” FEMA thinks EAS should be modified to support “persistent display of alert information and/or persistent notification for emergencies that require immediate public protective actions to mitigate loss of life.”

Such alerts would persist on EAS until the alert time has expired or the alert is cancelled by the originator. Merely repeating an EAS message, FEMA says, does not address problems like those that came up in the false missile alert situation in Hawaii. It believes alert information should persist so people can “receive, review and collaborate, whenever they ‘tune in,’ with emergency information received previously from another emergency alert information source.”

The FCC is asking for comments on questions like the technical feasibility of assigning “persistence” to state and local alerts; what kinds of events would qualify; what changes would be required to EAS devices; and whether stations and others who carry state and local alerts on a voluntary basis would agree to carry persistent alerts.

One can envision a persistent alert remaining visible on a video platform, but the FCC also wonders what “persistent” would mean for radio stations and satellite radio, as wall as what role “smart” devices might play for alerts carried by ATSC 3.0 and HD Radio technologies.

Other recommendations

FEMA also thinks the FCC should modify the definition for the EAN event code from “Emergency Action Notification (National Only)” to “Emergency Alert, National,” or replace the EAN event code entirely with a new one called “NEM” for “National Emergency Message.” FEMA thinks “Emergency Action Notification” has no meaning to most people and may create confusion.

FEMA further thinks the FCC should change the EAS originator code for the Primary Entry Point System from “PEP” to “NAT,” which would stand for “National Authority.”

It notes that PEPs — radio stations that are the primary source of initial broadcast for a presidential alert — are not originators. It said using PEP as an originator code currently requires EAS video participants to scroll a message that begins with “The Primary Entry Point System has issued …” which FEMA says means nothing to the public and again could create confusion.

And probably least controversial is a recommendation from FEMA to delete the term “National Information Center” in FCC rules because there is no longer a National Information Center (NIC) in federal and national emergency response plans.

[Read the full FNPRM, starting on page 25 of the recent FCC order.]

The post The FCC Contemplates “Persistent EAS Alerts” appeared first on Radio World.

Inovonics has released two firmware updates — one each for the INOmini 635 FM SiteStreamer and INOmini 638 HD Radio SiteStreamer, respectively.

According to the company these updates will add RDS Radio Text Alarm features and modifies LED Header displays to the web interface.

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

The company has provided instructions to aid in the download and installation of the updated firmware.

The updates for the 635, Rev. 2.2.0.0, and 638, Rev. 1.3.0.0, are available directly from the website. Other Inovonics equipment downloads are also available.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: www.inovonicsbroadcast.com

 

The post Inovonics Releases SiteStreamer Firmware Updates appeared first on Radio World.

LOS ANGELES — A company considered to be a “pioneer for managing, distributing and monetizing content” has received a strategic investment from Fox Corporation.

This, Eluvio says, is designed to accelerate the adoption of Eluvio’s platform across the broader media and entertainment industry.

As part of the investment, the companies also announced that Eluvio will provide the underlying technology platform for Blockchain Creative Labs, FOX Entertainment’s and Bento Box Entertainment’s recently launched NFT business and creative unit.

Fox Corporation’s investment marks the completion of Eluvio’s Series A round at a valuation of $100 million.

Paul Cheesbrough, Chief Technology Officer and President of Digital for Fox Corporation, will also join Eluvio’s Board of Directors.

Launched in 2019, Eluvio is led by technologists Michelle Munson and Serban Simu. The company’s Eluvio Content Fabric is an advanced, open protocol blockchain network purpose-built for owner-controlled storage, distribution, and monetization of digital content at scale. It provides live and file-based content publishing, transcoding, packaging, sequencing, dynamic and static distribution, and minting of derivative NFTs–all backed by blockchain contracts providing proof of ownership and access control.

Eluvio LIVE, powered by the Eluvio Content Fabric, is a multi-tenant turnkey platform for publishers that provides 4K streaming and ticketing of events with media marketplaces.

“At FOX, we believe that the blockchain, and the overall shift towards a more decentralized web, is providing creators with a wealth of opportunities to reach consumers with exciting new experiences,” Cheesbrough said. “Michelle, Serban and the Eluvio team are the best in the business when it comes to the software and scalable infrastructure required to power live, decentralized experiences across the blockchain and our investment will help bring this technology to a wider market of content creators, media partners and advertising clients.”

In May, FOX Entertainment and Bento Box entered the NFT business with the formation of Blockchain Creative Labs and a $100 million creator fund to identify growth opportunities in the space. As such, Blockchain Creative Labs will launch a dedicated digital marketplace for creator Dan Harmon’s upcoming animated comedy, KRAPOPOLIS, marking the first animated series to be curated entirely on the blockchain.

The company will manage and sell digital KRAPOPOLIS goods, including NFTs of one-of-a-kind character and background art and GIFs, as well as tokens that provide exclusive social experiences to engage and reward super fans.

Set in mythical ancient Greece and centered on a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters that tries to run one of the world’s first cities without killing each other, KRAPOPOLIS is fully owned and financed by FOX Entertainment and will be produced by Bento Box.

Additional news about Blockchain Creative Labs-driven content will be disclosed in the coming weeks.

— Editing by Adam R Jacobson

MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Solutions is bringing a new version of its flagship SilverBack-V series fiber camera adapters to market.

Ideal for content producers of live concerts, sports and other televised events, the new SilverBack-VB retains the main features required for HD, 4K and even 8K productions while streamlining the feature set for smaller budgets.

The SilverBack-V and SilverBack-VB both convert digital cinema cameras into SMPTE studio cameras for use in live multi-camera productions.

As such, a live production company can now mix and match digital cinema cameras.

“Digital cinema cameras were traditionally used for filmmaking, but a larger sector of content producers now desire these cameras for their 35mm and larger image sensors,” said Jesse Foster, Director of Product Development and Western Region Sales. “The larger imager size provides a shallower depth of field and greater emotion by having the foreground on a different focal plane than the background. Digital cinema cameras also bring 4K resolution, HDR and Wide Color Gamut, as well as 24fps support for film-like motion blur as well as high framerate acquisition for slow motion. These benefits are now available to users that could not achieve their storytelling goals because they were priced out of the market.”

The SilverBack-VB is a 1RU half-rack-width enclosure that provides a full-bandwidth fiber optic link between any 12G, 4K or HD camera and a truck, control room or video village position. The design puts more emphasis on video payload across four I/O options, including bi-directional 12G-SDI and 3G-SDI, while streamlining audio transport options to the essentials. Live multicamera production features such as intercom, genlock, timecode and serial data, along with front-panel status monitoring, are retained to optimize live cinematic production flexibility.

The SilverBack-VB is also vendor-agnostic. When paired with MultiDyne’s JUICE-48 power supply, users can operate on a hybrid cable and provide power to the camera, or use lightweight, robust tactical fiber and power the camera locally. The SilverBack-VB also adds PoE capability to power remote control panels and other production workflows over Ethernet – a first for the SilverBack series.

“The modular design of the SilverBack-VB ensures that the system can be customized with various types, amounts and directions of video inputs and outputs, while our agnostic approach provides no limitations to camera choice for our customers,” said Frank Jachetta, CEO at MultiDyne. “Our latest SilverBack innovation, one of our flagship product lines today, incorporates the proven connectivity solutions of MultiDyne’s decades of experience outfitting high-end, broadcast-quality production requirements.”

— Brian Galante

Borrell Associates has just completed the analysis of its annual local advertiser survey, conducted in April, May and June. The findings are now available for all to digest.

What’s the biggest takeaway?

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HOUSTON — A facility exchange agreement is in the works that sets the stage for a move of a Tropical-formatted Spanish-language operation branded as “La Calle.”

It involves Daij Media, and two religious broadcasting licensees.

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