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BMW cars have a brand new feature available to drivers in Europe and North America, the Service and Program Information standard from RadioDNS.

The standard is being used in BMW’s vehicles to gather station logos directly from radio stations to keep dashboards updated.

The logos are updated over IP for FM stations, updated over DAB EPG for DAB services.

[Read: In-car Updates From Radioplayer, BBC Sounds]

BMW joins Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche to include the standards. For radio stations to be able to participate in this service, they need to publish their metadata to RadioDNS’ standards. To do that, visit RadioDNS’ website.

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The post BMW Vehicles Now Feature RadioDNS appeared first on Radio World.

At the request of SSR Communications Inc., the Audio Division amends the FM Table of Allotments, by allotting Channel 264A at Caliente, Nevada, as the first local service. A staff engineering analysis indicates that Channel 264A can be allotted to Caliente consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's rules without a site restriction. The reference coordinates are 37-36-02 NL and 114-30-32 WL.

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The Federal Communications Commission adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) that proposes a modernized and standardized set of rules for local public notice given by broadcast applicants

FCC proposes rules to modernize and simplify the written and on-air public notices broadcasters must provide upon the filing of certain applications

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Public radio station KDNK(FM) in Carbondale, Colo., depends on ENCO Systems’ DAD automation to handle its library of tens of thousands of songs and elements along with scheduling programming. It’s especially crucial considering that most of the staff is volunteers lacking in-depth training.

A release explains, “DAD serves as a critical network hub that connects KDNK’s on-air studio, newsroom, production room, and program department.”

[Read: User Report: KHNS Derives Efficiency From ENCO DAD]

KDNK Music Director Luke Nestler said, “While our DJs allow our station to be live 18 hours per day, DAD makes it very easy to automate the playout of fresh music playlists overnight from midnight to 5 a.m., at which time it triggers a live NPR satellite feed of “Morning Edition.”

“For a station like ours with a very small paid staff, the automated functionality of ENCO’s Dropbox utility is a very big timesaver,” Nestler added. “Without it, we would have to handle ingesting shows as a manual process, while guarding against human error. As part of its overall functionality, DAD automates this entire process reliably the moment a new episode arrives.”

A particular highlight is DAD’s work with the station’s sound library. Nestler estimates that 88,000 pieces of music have been copied and organized into different libraries residing in their digital archive. These libraries span a wide range of musical tastes, including folk, rock n roll, bluegrass, country, soul, R&B, funk, hip-hop, and electronica along with one dedicated to elements and clips.

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The post KDNK Organizes With ENCO appeared first on Radio World.

The ninth annual College Radio Day is fast approaching. According to a release, the event “will unite over 360 college stations from 26 countries around the world to bring awareness to the work and value college stations bring to the broadcasting medium.”

Recently announced was the appointment of The Black Keys as the official ambassadors for the day. Black Key Pat Carney said, “The importance of college radio can’t be overstated. Dan [Auerbach] and I are proud to be the ambassadors of College Radio Day.” As ambassadors of the event, Carney has recorded an exclusive interview for college radio stations to play on the air during the day.

The group’s mist recent album received significant college radio play. It was on the top spot for five consecutive weeks on the North American College & Community Radio Chart, giving The Black Keys the title for NACC’s longest run in 2019.

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The post College Radio Day Approaches appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC has voted on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing changes to update the FCC’s rules to bring broadcast application public notifications into the digital age.

TV and radio stations had been required to file “certain applications” in “a local newspaper,” or “on air” and in some cases both, depending on the type of application, the primary reason being to direct them to the station’s studio, where they could review the documents.

But with the rise of internet usage and the FCC’s migration of those station application documents from their studios to an online database (some written notice requirements remain), the FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai said that needed to change and has now come up with a plan, which the commission adopted at the Sept. 26 open meeting and will still need to be subject for public comment before a final order is voted:

• “Replace the newspaper publication requirement with written public notice posted online on a publicly accessible website (either the station’s site or an affiliated site) with a link to the application;”
• “Simplify and standardize the public notice requirements for on-air announcements (they must direct the public to the FCC database);
• “Clarify certain local public notice obligations, such as those pertaining to international broadcast stations and low-power FM stations;” and
• “Streamline and update the commission’s rules concerning public notice for stations designated for hearing.”

“I am pleased that this item recognizes that local public notice of licensing activity is required by statute, and searches for ways to use modern tools to make it more effective,” said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. “Specifically, I support the item’s proposals to continue to require both on-air and written notice of certain licensing proceedings and questions on the best way to offer such notice online. I am hopeful that a robust record will develop on these issues.”

Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said the FCC needs to eliminate or modify “all” government burdens on broadcasters so they can compete with unregulated competitors. He said he strongly supported the item and hopes the FCC can move to an order quickly. Commissioner Brendan Carr agreed. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel called it a “smart update.”

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The post FCC Proposes Framework for Online Station Public Notices appeared first on Radio World.

HAINES, ALASKA — As the Voice of the Wilderness, public radio station KHNS(FM) has been broadcasting to the Alaskan Panhandle communities of Haines, Skagway and Klukwan since 1980. Situated near majestic mountains and the Upper Lynn Canal, our listener-supported station is a source of music, news and programming from networks such as NPR, BBC World News and Alaska Public Radio.

Our staff has been downsized from 10 to four full-timers over the years and our budget remains tight — now even tighter with Alaska vetoing public broadcasting funding in June. But we’ve managed to maintain a highly-efficient and reliable broadcast operation in large part due to our ENCO DAD radio automation system.

Over several generations and system upgrades, DAD has supported our operation in what I would call a flexible, hybrid configuration that lets us to choose when and how our station automates playout. While DAD is programmed to deliver our 24/7 playlist, we are only fully automated overnight and on the weekends. Since DAD continuously plays out our playlist as a background process, it’s always there and ready to go should we need it.

Like our turntables and CD players, DAD has its own slider on our control room board. At the start of their shifts, our DJs pot down DAD, do their live shows and then pot DAD back up when they’re finished. DAD plays any time there isn’t a DJ sitting at the board, running through a daily playlist that has backup programming if a volunteer can’t make a regularly hosted show.

This flexible DAD setup allows our DJs to deliver a fresh, original show, playing music from our two turntables and CD players — as well as a DAD mini-array — as they’ve always done, and more important, preserving our station’s unique, regional sound.

While we chose DAD for its comprehensive functionality, we’re still discovering valuable features and capabilities. One such recent upgrade is ENconveyor, which automates the download of audio files, such as syndicated shows, from various web or FTP sites on the internet, and delivers them to our DAD media library, with metadata.

DAD’s DropBox application, also a recent upgrade, scans a watch folder associated with our own FTP site. When new media files arrive, DropBox retrieves them according to rules-based criteria. Together, these two new features save considerable man-hours and labor.

The ability to access the DAD system remotely from any mobile connected device, is another big time-saver. For instance, for our 1950s big-band retrospective, “Melodies and Memories,” our producer can access the DAD system remotely, from a desktop application in her home, to upload the latest show for broadcast on Sundays at noon.

Whenever a problem occurs while I’m off-site, such as satellite network disruption or weather emergencies, I can remotely access DAD using an iPad or smartphone to turn on weather advisories or technical difficulties messages. That flexible remote accessibility eliminates the long drive to the station.

For every KHNS department, including KHNS Local News, DAD is a vital platform underlying all that we do on a daily basis. We find the ENCO DAD system to be reliable, user-friendly, intuitive and for our lean operation, crucial for delivering the on-air product that our listeners rely upon and enjoy.

For information, contact Ken Frommert at ENCO Systems in Michigan at 1-248-827-4440 or visit www.enco.com.

The post User Report: KHNS Derives Efficiency From ENCO DAD appeared first on Radio World.

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The nationally syndicated “Bob & Tom Show” broadcasts from the Radio Show in Dallas on Wednesday morning. Photo: Paul McLane

The post Live From the Radio Show appeared first on Radio World.