Industry News

A company that considers itself to be one of the pioneers of video-on-demand technology has claimed a small victory in its fight against AT&T, DirecTV, Dish Network and Amazon for copyright infringement of four patents covering streaming media innovations specifically tied to VOD services using the set top box and mobile app technology.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — At the FCC‘s October Open Meeting, one of the most important advancements in the history of AM radio broadcasting took only minutes to get the Commission’s approval.

Voluntary all-digital AM broadcasting moved forward, with a report and order released.

Broadcast station owners that wish to benefit will soon be free to do so.

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The recently published book “Radio’s Second Century: Past, Present and Future Perspectives” is an academic survey of our industry, a collection of essays, statistics, graphs and antidotes edited by author and professor John Allen Hendricks that features contributions from scholars in media and journalism.

Hendricks is department chair and professor of mass communication at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and author or editor of 11 books.

This one is a collection that belongs on the shelf labeled “media studies.”

Promotional information for the book notes that as the industry enters its second century, it continues to be a dominant mass medium even in the face of competition.

“Lasting influences such as on-air personalities, audience behavior, fan relationships and localism are analyzed [in the book], as well as contemporary issues including social and digital media,” it states.

“Other essays examine the regulatory concerns that continue to exist for public radio, commercial radio and community radio, and discuss the hindrances and challenges posed by government regulation with an emphasis on both American and international perspectives. Radio’s impact on cultural hegemony through creative programming content in the areas of religion, ethnic inclusivity and gender parity is also explored.”

Michael Brown writes in the forward that the book “points to a diverse and open field for those who wish to study radio and those who have an interest in learning what we know about the technology, programming, social issues and international use of radio.”

Academic text John Allen Hendricks

To give you a further idea of its content mix, Part I is titled “Contemporary Radio: Social and Digital Media.”

This section includes discussions about listening “from AM to FM to XM, and beyond”; audience research and web features in radio; the “para-social” nature of podcasting; and social media analytics.

Part 2 explores “Programming Matters: Localism, Personalities and Audiences.” Chapters focus on “the shrinking electronic town square” and localism in talk radio; the fandom of Howard Stern; lessons from the “War of the Worlds” broadcast; and how to encourage creative programming.

Part 3, “Social Issues,” includes chapters on religion in radio, NPR’s role in America and “resisting podcasting’s sonic whiteness,” while Part 4 takes on international perspectives including community/campus radio in Canada, the dominance of public radio in podcasting and the role of women in radio.

Among discussions I found interesting are ones focusing on radio as “theater of the mind”; how NPR aspires to create “driveway moments” through storytelling; how radio and podcast producers use sound to create a feeling of intimacy and connection; and how using headphones changes the listening experience.

The book would be an excellent read for a college student pursuing a degree in communications or journalism and needing insight into the radio industry. It’s also suitable for those who like to think hard about the roles that radio and audio play in our culture and how people interact with them.

This isn’t a book for those who want to know how to sell more radio spots or learn about the next technology platform that will change our industry. In general I found that it does not offer much in the way of definitive direction and improvement; a reader is left to conclude what direction radio should take in the next century. The stats and graphs can get repetitive, causing one to want to skim ahead.

However a strength of the book is its exploration of podcasting. It breaks down the success and appeal of the new medium and why it has such dominance with radio listeners:

I enjoyed passages about podcasting as a “converged medium” that brings together audio, the web and portable media devices, as well as a disruptive technology that has forced some in radio to reconsider established practices. I think the book is spot-on in its conclusion that podcasting will continue to dominate and be a strong substitute for listeners seeking news, information and entertainment.

The book is published by Rutgers University Press and retails for $39.95 in its paperback version.

The author is a project engineer at Lawo North America.

The post Book Takes Scholarly Look at Radio appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —With the retirement of Ranking Member Greg Walden and the expected transition of power at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW to President-Elect Joe Biden, the committee in the House of Representatives that oversees the FCC has appointed five new Democratic members.

They’ll take their seats with the start of the 117th Congress. And, they are all women.

BE SURE TO ‘LIKE’ RBR+TVBR ON FACEBOOK!

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Friday marked Day 15 of the “blackout” of all Nexstar Media Group-owned broadcast TV stations and the WGN America cable TV network across Dish lineups.

Is there an end on the horizon? Maybe. But, Nexstar has a new option for disgruntled Dish customers that want their NewsNation and other WGN America programming — and its an over-the-top platform.

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We’ve received good feedback and a couple of questions regarding Wayne Eckert’s submission on grounding wooden poles used to support STL antennas, described in the Workbench column in the Nov. 25 issue. (Like all recent issues of Radio World, you can access it online at radioworld.com/digital-editions.)

You’ll recall that Wayne is an engineer with the Rural Florida Communications Cooperative, so he’s had a bit of experience in bonding and grounding to reduce lightning damage.

Fig. 1: Wayne’s drawing of a properly grounded pole for supporting an STL antenna.

He told us last time about an AT&T document “Grounding and Bonding for Network Facilities.” It’s on the website https://ebiznet.att.com/sbcnebs/.  Much of the document is applicable to broadcast sites and studios.

Fig. 1 is Wayne’s diagram detailing the bonding of an STL antenna to a down ground. Note that the bond sweeps down from the antenna to the grounding conductor.

In answer to the first question we got, yes, the down ground wire does extend above the pole by about 6 inches to a foot. This “pigtail” conductor then is sticking up from the pole.

The down ground cable is typically #6 hard-drawn copper, solid or stranded. Yes, all pole attachments should be connected to the down ground cable using silver solder and short sections of the same #6 gauge cable.

These short grounding cables, attached to the mounted structures can be connected to the down ground using a C-Tap crimp lug (Fig. 2). If the installer doesn’t have crimping tools and dies, the connection can be made with silver solder.

Fig. 2: You can crimp connections to the down conductor using a C-Tap and lug.

Silver solder should be used for all RF and grounding connections — 60/40 tin/lead solder will melt under the heat of a lightning strike given that its melting point is only 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Silver solder’s melting point is above 1,000 degrees.

Strong adhesive

You may have gone to the dentist and received a filling made of a composite resin, a mixture of plastic and glass or quartz. It’s applied in layers, with each layer cured using an ultraviolet light.

A similar liquid plastic adhesive that uses UV light is available for consumer use. Bondic is ultra-strong and unlike super glues is not messy.

Fig. 3: An image from a promotional video for Bondic. The adhesive works on nearly everything and doesn’t “stick” until it’s cured by UV light.

Each Bondic kit includes a special dual-purpose pen. One end dispenses the liquid plastic, the other consists of a UV LED used to cure the bonding material. So this is not really a glue but rather a liquid plastic which, when activated by the UV light, welds the pieces together.

The bond is waterproof, and (should you wish to repair a coffee cup handle) it’s dishwasher safe. Another plus: Unlike glues that eventually dry out in the tube, Bondic stays wet until it is cured by the UV light.

Bondic can be used not only to bond two items but to fill in chips or cracks in metal, wood, plastic, ceramic or glass. One typical use is to repair broken insulation on a smartphone charging cable.

In addition to the starter kit, refill tubes of the Bondic liquid are available. Search Bondic on Amazon or visit getbondic.io.

Guy insulators

Professional Engineer Charles “Buc” Fitch writes that he was quite surprised to find out that Preformed Products, the folks who make all those guy wire grips and associated mounts for towers, also manufactures fiberglass guy wire insulators. Buc says they offer a full line of ceramic insulators as well as fiberglass guy strain insulators. Visit www.preformed.com.

Buc points out the importance of using isolating guy wires with these fiberglass extensions near an FM antenna, as the steel guys can cause FM signal distortion.in nearfield positions. Visit the Preformed site, you’ll be amazed at their varied products.

Classic mic repair

Dan Slentz is always finding entertaining or educational subjects on the web and often shares with Workbench readers. His latest submission is both entertaining and educational.

Fig. 4: A video on YouTube profiles Clarence Kane, a former RCA employee who is still servicing microphones.

Clarence Kane is the owner of ENAK Microphone Repair (ENAK is Kane spelled backward!). He was born in 1926 and got interested in electronics while in the service. Afterwards he attended the Radio Electronics Institute and went to work at RCA, where he worked for 33 years, mostly repairing microphones.

Radio World’s James O’Neal wrote about him in Radio World in 2010. His company continues that service, and he’s the last remaining RCA employee still servicing microphones.

Dan points us to this 12-minute mini documentary video about him on YouTube.

John Bisset has spent more than 50 years in broadcasting and recently began his 31st year writing Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance. He holds CPBE certification with the Society of Broadcast Engineers. He is also a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

Workbench submissions are encouraged, qualify for SBE Recertification and can be emailed to johnpbisset@gmail.com.

The post Workbench: More on the STL Support Pole appeared first on Radio World.

Travel one hour west of Helena, Montana, and you’ll reach the small town of Deer Lodge. Here, an AM radio silent has fallen silent, as has an FM translator at 99.3 MHz and 20kw FM.

The owner passed away. He had no will. Now, the stations are being involuntary transferred to a family member.

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City United Church in recent years has been using a Massachusetts AM to provide a “Power”-ful religious-themed message to local listeners.

Then, the station fell silent. Now, this facility is being sold.

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Have you ever wondered how many ads you should be airing in a certain week in order to reach your audience effectively? The short answer is, “it depends on what your goals are.”

Cumulus Media/Westwood One and the Radio Advertising Bureau partnered to offer some specific guidelines for radio stations. The goal was to reach  a range of listeners, ranging from a 34% reach to a 78% reach of a station’s audience, with four separate campaign goals defined as very light, light, medium and heavy.

The very light and light schedules were ideal for advertisers who want a maintenance campaign with modest levels of reach and frequency. A medium schedule is a good fit for a general sales event or promotional campaign with modest levels of reach and frequency. A heavy schedule is best for a major sales event or a product launch where many listeners are reached very frequently.

Those four approaches offer stations guidance as to how much and how often an audience is reached, wrote Pierre Bouvard, chief insights officer at Cumulus Media/Westwood One, in a blog post.

The study revealed that turnover is a key factor. Turnover is calculated by dividing a radio station’s cume (the number of different people reached by a station in a week) by its average quarter-hour audience. The greater the turnover, the more ads needed to reach an audience in a typical quarter hour. Stations with high turnovers have lower time spent listening while stations with lower turnovers have higher time spent listening.

“There’s no such thing as good or bad turnover,” Bouvard wrote. “You just need to know what it is. Turnover is a helpful ratio to understand how many commercials, promos or song spins are needed to reach a station’s audience.”

To determine the ads needed for a very light schedule, for example, take half the turn over. For a medium schedule, double the turnover.

The report also offered suggestions for different radio formats. For a top 40 station, for example, a station would need to air 15 ads, promos of song spins per week to reach 34% of its audience. To reach 78% of its audience, a station would need to air 103 ads.

The study also found that although agencies and FM/AM radio sellers agree on the number of ads needed for light schedules, they typically underestimate the number of ads needed for medium or heavy campaigns.

A companion study determined what kinds of campaigns are actually being run across the country. Cumulus Media conducted a Media Monitors analysis of AM/FM radio advertising in 99 markets during a week. The report found that during the first week of August 2020, 182,425 commercials were run on 1,685 monitoring radio stations in 99 markets. The study assigned one of the four types of schedules — very light, light, medium and heavy — in those 99 markets.

The report found that the vast majority of weekly radio station campaigns (73%) are very light, meaning they are reaching only one-third of a station’s audience. Only 2% of radio campaigns were considered heavy while 4% were considered medium intensity and 66% were considered medium.

It appears that the underestimation of the number of ads needed for medium and heavy schedules is the reason why there are so few medium/heavy campaigns, Bouvard said, even though heavy campaigns are an important strategy for advertisers.

[Read: Bouvard: More People Are “Ready to Go”]

One of the best practices as recommended by the study is that radio stations run heavy schedules of AM/FM radio ads if these advertisers are looking to generate significant impact. A previous study conducted by the National Association of Broadcasters and Coleman Insights found that advertisers who run heavy schedules rate the campaigns as excellent far more often than those running different campaigns.

The bottom line: set the right expectations with your advertisers. “Don’t expect grand opening results from a light weekly campaign,” Bouvard wrote.

Instead, press your advertisers to examine their existing plan to see if the schedule intensity matches desired results. The strategy that answers an advertiser’s concern about cost of medium- and heavy-intensity ads is two-fold: run shorter ads and run ads at all day and time periods, since ad costs for nights/weekends generally run about half of prime-time hours.

Remember, Bouvard wrote: advertising is not one-size-fits-all. “Understanding the campaign goal is crucial to determining a correct AM/FM radio plan strategy and as important as the message itself,” he wrote. “While the number of occurrences/spots needed for various campaign goals might be underestimated, the use of these tools can serve as guidelines to better optimize the AM/FM radio planning and buying process.”

 

The post Determining How Many Ads a Station Needs to Run to Get Results appeared first on Radio World.

Eliminating injuries and fatalities in tower work is the aim of a new partnership of OSHA, NATE and the FCC.

 “The goal of the three-year partnership is to eliminate worker injuries and fatalities while performing wireless and telecommunications, tower erection and maintenance operations,” they said in an announcement.

“The partnership will address some of the industry’s frequently encountered hazards, including falls from height, electric, falling objects, tower collapses, and inclement weather.”

[Read: FCC, OSHA Team Up on Tower Safety]

The agreement was signed in an online ceremony involving officials of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and the Federal Communications Commission.

They included Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor Loren Sweatt, NATE Chairman Jimmy Miller and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

Sweatt said demand for wireless communications and broadcast services has increased the need for construction, service and maintenance of towers around the country.

The effort is being done under OSHA’s Strategic Partnership Program.

 

The post NATE, OSHA and FCC in Safety Partnership appeared first on Radio World.