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Taking its name for Austin’s legacy area code, 512 Audio, based in that city, introduces itself with a handful of products, notably a pair of microphones.

Of chief interest to Radio World readers would be the Limelight microphone (shown). Roughly resembling a black version of a well-known radio broadcast mic standard, Limelight has a hypercardioid pattern with a dynamic capsule that “meets the needs of today’s podcasters, broadcasters, and streamers,” according to the company.

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

It has a built-in pop filter and low-frequency cut filter at 100Hz. The company specs Limelight 50 Hz–15 kHz.

Also coming out of the 512 Audio stable is the Skylight, a large diaphragm cardioid studio-style microphone. Both mics go for $199.99.

512 Audio is also offering a set of headphones, along with a boom arm and a metal mesh pop filter.

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

Info: www.512audio.com

 

The post Introducing 512 Audio appeared first on Radio World.

The final stretch of the FCC’s Broadcast Incentive Auction, or spectrum repack, is in progress.

This will relocate displaced low-power TV (LPTV), TV translator and FM stations to new frequencies no later than September 5. And, Dielectric is preparing for “brisk business” over the next week as broadcast antenna and RF systems needs potentially increase.

Dielectric has developed a new strategy for low-power repack customers, anchored by its  Powerlite Series and an automated, high-efficiency production process.

“We revamped our production floor and workflow to accelerate the antenna manufacturing and shipping process during the challenging high-power repack phases,” said Cory Edwards, Director of OEM, Distributor and Southeast Asia Sales at Dielectric. “We shipped a total of 1073 high-power repack systems over 12 phases, accounting for 80 percent of high-power repack market share.”

While these workflow changes remain in place, the commercial quoting process for low-power antenna systems take a different path. Edwards notes that a great deal of collaboration takes place on the front end between Dielectric, the transmitter OEM, and tower owner to ensure the most cost-effective system for the LPTV station.

To ensure expediency, Dielectric has recalibrated its precision automatic pole machine, first commissioned for the high-power repack initiative. The machine is equipped with a Bridgeport head with an automated flex drill. The system is driven by Dielectric’s CAD package, which includes the appropriate custom programming for each low-power antenna. This ensures that low-power antennas can now be built quicker than was previously possible.

“The poles range from 15 to 25 feet long for lower-power slot antennas, and fit into a series of saddles on the machine,” said Edwards. “The CAD software, which automatically uploads once the design work is completed, tells the flex drill precisely where every slot and hole on the antenna should be located. We can finish an 8-bay antenna for an LPTV customer in less than an hour, compared to what previously took nearly a full business day, and antenna tuning times have improved by 50 percent, which means quicker deployments..”

Dielectric produced and shipped nearly 60 Powerlite low-power TV antenna systems in the recent months using this machine and automated production workflow, Edwards said. That includes “analog sunset” LPTV customers that faced an early July deadline. The company currently has about another 60 Powerlite systems in production for low-power repack projects, and anticipates bidding on up to 500 additional projects in the coming months.

Edwards adds that the Powerlite Series, which serves broadcast requirements of 6kW or less, packages all required RF components into a singular system. This further simplifies challenging deployment timelines for low-power stations, which typically lack the budget to outsource installation services.

Powerlite systems ship with Dielectric antennas, transmission line, tunable filters and RF components. The company recently added a 5kW tunable filter to the Powerlite Series, which Edwards says has helped Dielectric efficiently match specific transmitter power levels that have become more common with LPTV repack projects.

— Brian Galante, with editing by Adam R Jacobson

Dielectric will demonstrate its Powerlite Series, including its new 5kW Powerlite filter, at its 2021 NAB Booth (C7215) from October 10-13 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Nexstar Media Group has appointed a VP/GM for its broadcast and digital operations in DMA No. 167. This puts him in control of the market’s ABC affiliate and the company’s operational agreements with Mission Broadcasting.

Thus, he’ll also be overseeing operations of the local FOX affiliate.

Taking the role is Stephen Eaton. He reports to Traci Wilkinson, Nexstar’s SVP/Regional Manager for its broadcasting division.

Eaton has been GSM of KTVQ-TV in Billings, Mont., the CBS affiliate, since February 2016. Now, he’ll be across town, overseeing KSVI-TV, the ABC affiliate, and Mission-owned FOX affiliate KMHT-TV.

Prior career stops include a role as a Senior Account Manager at KUSA-9 in Denver.

JW Player, the leading video software and data insights platform, today announced it has appointed a Chief Technology Officer. The strategic hire, the company says, ‘will accelerate JW Player’s product innovation to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Digital Video Economy.”

Gaining the role is David LaPalomento.

“David has proven himself to be a visionary leader in both developing and scaling innovative video delivery products,” said Dave Otten, CEO and co-founder of JW Player. “I have no doubt that his expertise will strengthen our position as a leading force for innovation in the digital video industry. With his leadership, we will scale our engineering teams and bring new products to market that further empower customers with independence and control in the Digital Video Economy. We could not be more excited to have him on our team.”

LaPalomento enjoyed a decade-long tenure at Brightcove, where he led the overhaul of the company’s legacy data center-based architecture, replacing it with a scalable, cloud-native architecture. “His experience will be invaluable as JW Player rises to meet the explosive growth in demand for digital video since the pandemic began,” his new employer says.

JW Player’s data from over 12,000 publishers and broadcasters shows that video consumption has risen by nearly 50% since 2020 and by 28.6% since January 2021. “The growing demand has made it an imperative for organizations of all stripes, including fitness, e-commerce, sports and e-learning businesses, to develop a robust video strategy to engage their audience on the screen of their choice: web, mobile or connected TV,” JW Player says.

JW Player uses an API-driven video platform.

Two AV companies have done something that may be of interest to the broadcast industry. Last week, they agreed to a strategic partnership to offer “the most complete and most collaborative versions” of the Crestron XiO Cloud product. This adds new levels of control, management and rapid installation features to Philips displays.

PPDS, the exclusive global provider of Philips pro TV products, is now among the world’s first manufacturers to gain Crestron XiO Cloud certification.

The company says this “unique and highly collaborative partnership opens up incredible opportunities for a multitude of industries.”

With Crestron technology now embedded and compatible across almost all Philips professional displays (including pro TV, digital signage and interactive), PPDS has become one of the world’s few display manufacturers to support all four of Crestron’s key technology integrations, including its Control, Remote Management, Video Distribution and Unified Communications solutions, the company says.

Built on the Microsoft Azure platform, Crestron XiO Cloud integrates seamlessly with a
wide range of Philips Windows and Android digital displays and pro TVs.

In 2020, PPDS became a Crestron Connected Gen 2 certified and trusted partner. The first examples of the relationship included the launch and availability of a range of new products, including Philips B-Line and C-Line interactive displays.

 

Customers can purchase the Crestron XiO Cloud service on a monthly basis, with pricing based on the number of rooms and service options required.

Issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $3,500 to Natkim Radio, LLC, for failure to timely file a covering license application for FM Translator W285FR, Palatka, Florida, and unauthorized operation of the station

State broadcast associations are telling the Federal Communications Commission that its planned increase in regulatory fees will be harmful to radio and TV stations at a time when many stations face “an increasingly precarious situation.”

They also want the commission to start a proceeding that would lead to fees being allocated more fairly across industries that benefit from the FCC’s work.

[“Broadcasters Face Higher FCC Regulatory Fees”]

The leaders of several associations met via tele-conference calls last week with staff members of three FCC commissioners. The associations include those in Indiana, Minnesota, Georgia, Montana and Missouri.

The state groups echoed arguments that have been made to the FCC — so far without success — by the National Association of Broadcasters.

The associations described financial challenges facing broadcasters, especially those in small markets, where stations may be the only source of local news and information as well as a balance to misinformation on social media.

According to ex parte filings summarizing the calls, the associations complained about increases of “double-digit percentages year over year” and said that the FCC’s published Broadcast Totals “show a loss of at least 122 full-power commercial AM and FM radio stations since 2019, demonstrating the increasingly precarious situation many stations face.”

They also noted that the FCC’s most recent auction failed to attract a bidder for any of the offered AM station authorizations and for a third of the FM station authorizations.

This, they said, “further confirms an increasingly obvious fact: that the FCC’s proposal to charge broadcasters 16% of its operating costs while those same broadcasters hold only 0.07% of the spectrum regulated by the commission is an unsustainable approach to funding the commission’s operations.”

They also said that the fee increases “are due almost entirely to the commission’s decision to treat its work under the Broadband DATA Act as commission ‘overhead,’ to be spread across all FCC regulatees despite the fact that broadcasters have no connection to, and do not benefit from, that work in any way.”

That, they say, is contrary to the will of Congress.

“The commission’s traditional license-centric approach to setting regulatory fees is neither legal nor sustainable,” the associations wrote in their filings.

They said that approach “merely forces broadcasters to subsidize through excessive regulatory fees their fiercest competitors: social media and technology companies that consume vast amounts of the commission’s time and resources while paying no regulatory fees whatsoever.

“This subsidy is particularly offensive when some of these resources broadcasters are paying for are being used to encroach on broadcaster’s spectrum through unlicensed uses, reducing the ‘benefit’ of that spectrum to broadcasters while simultaneously benefitting technology companies who conveniently avoid having to pay for the cost of those proceedings since they are not an FCC licensee.”

The associations told FCC staffers that current law now requires it to diversify its portfolio of regulatory fee payors.

They want the commission to start a proceeding to examine how to bring its regulatory fee processes into compliance by expanding the universe of regulatory fee payors and acknowledging that the amount of fees must be governed by what is called the “touchstone” of the benefit the commission delivers to the payor.

[Read one of the ex parte summaries as filed with the commission.]

 

The post State Associations Push Back on FCC Fee Increases appeared first on Radio World.

Cornelius Gould has joined Angry Audio with the title of audio processing architect. Among his jobs will be helping to develop products for new media content creators.

Angry Audio is a Tennessee-based company founded in 2019 by Mike “Catfish” Dosch. It specializes in making “gizmos and gadgets.”

“Broadcasters around the world know Gould for his Omnia.11 work,” the company said in a press release. “What they may not realize is that he has been designing, building and tuning audio processing for decades. In fact, he is considered by many to be one of the world’s foremost audio processing authorities.”

Dosch said Angry Audio has a lot of customers working in podcasting and live-audio streaming. “With Corny on board, we have some new product ideas that should be real eye-openers,” he said.

Gould is best known in radio for his decade-plus at Telos Alliance. Before that he founded a streaming company and worked as an engineer for CBS Radio. More recently he was with Futuri Media in an R&D role; he also co-hosts a podcast about rocketry.

Send announcements for People News to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Corny Gould Joins Angry Audio appeared first on Radio World.

The Media Bureau has agreed to cancel a Notice of Apparent Liability against the licensee of an low-power FM station in Florida for a renewal violation — but not before the station was admonished by the Federal Communications Commission for operating without a license.

The bureau sent a liability notice to Minority Broadcasting Association, licensee of LPFM station WPJM in Palatka, Fla., for apparently willfully violating the FCC Rules by failing to file a license renewal application on time and engaging in unauthorized operation of the station.

[Read: LPFM Station Allowed to Resume Operations]

According to the rules, the bureau has the authority to set a base forfeiture of $3,000 for failing to file a required form. The guidelines also specify a base forfeiture of $10,000 for construction or operation without authorization. In Minority Broadcasting’s case, the bureau proposed a reduced forfeiture amount of $3,500 since the station is an LPFM and is providing a secondary service.

Minority Broadcasting responded to the commission’s notice and responded that its failure to file the application was not willful; rather, it resulted from unintentional oversight and argued that the commission did not give them enough opportunity to achieve compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Minority Broadcasting also requested cancellation of the notice due to an inability to pay.

But the bureau said that violations resulting from failure to become familiar with the FCC’s rules are still willful violations — even if the licensee didn’t intentionally set out to break the rules. As a result, the commission said it was not persuaded by Minority Broadcasting’s argument that the mistake was just an accident.

The bureau also said that Minority Broadcasting’s interpretation of the Administrative Procedure Act is also incorrect. The rules state that the suspension of an license is lawful only if the licensee has been given notice and an opportunity to achieve compliance. But here, the commission is not attempting to revoke or cancel the station’s license, so in this case the act has no standing, the bureau said.

The bureau also explained that in order for the commission to consider reducing or cancelling a forfeiture, the licensee must submit federal tax returns for the last three years or some other objective documentation showing the licensee’s current financial status. Minority Broadcasting said its financial status was clear: it doesn’t have a bank account and any funds needed for station operations are obtained through donations.

The commission accepted Minority Broadcasting’s showing that payment of the proposed forfeiture would create a financial hardship. The bureau also agreed to cancel the proposed forfeiture but not before admonishing Minority Broadcasting for its violation of the rules.

 

The post Florida Low-Power FM Station Has Liability Canceled by Media Bureau appeared first on Radio World.

There’s a new VP/GM for the Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned FOX affiliate serving the Omaha-Council Bluffs market.

He will also oversee the market’s The CW Network affiliate, which Sinclair operates via a provision of services agreement.

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From big brick and mortar retailers to auto insurance specialist and a big Procter & Gamble Co. brand, there’s lots of strong activity at spot television for the week ending August 22.

The variety in advertiser categories is a welcome sign, even as Auto was absent ahead of the next end-of-month sales push.

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The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report shows that there’s little movement from last week, with respect to fully paying advertisers and the amount of commercials aired for each of them for the week ending August 22.

As shown below, Progressive, Indeed, Babbel, GEICO and Bank of America — along with Grainger — are committing to their radio budgets.

For Progressive, that translates to nearly 54,000 spot plays for the week ending August 22.

For No. 10 Grainger, roughly 30,700 spots were detected for the week.

NBCUniversal is urging all measurement companies to offer alternative means of tracking viewing across multiple platforms.

The request is in an open letter signed by Kelly Abcarian, the former Nielsen veteran who recently became EVP of Measurement and Impact for NBCUniversal.

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Add Beasley Media Group to the list of major radio companies to require employees to get vaccinated. Employees have until November first to get fully vaccinated.

“As a company, we have a responsibility to ensure a safe working environment on behalf of our employees and their families,” said Caroline Beasley, Beasley’s CEO. “Accordingly, we will be requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated by November 1 — excepting those with religious or medical accommodations. This policy will apply to new and existing employees alike.”

Beasley follows Cumulus Media, Gray Television and Urban One as publicly traded broadcast media companies requiring “the jab” for employees.

BIN: The Black Information Network, launched by iHeartMedia in 2020, is planning to expand local new coverage in January 2022.

Right now the iHeartMedia national audio news network, presenting news with a Black voice and perspective is heard in 32 affiliate markets.

The expansion plans have resulted in the promotion of three staff members.

Tanita Myers, previously Director of News Operations, is now Vice President of News Operations; Chris Thompson, previously Director of Network Operations, is now Vice President of Network Operations; and Lauren Crawford, previously Associate Editor, is now Senior Director of Digital and Social Strategy.

“We are incredibly proud of the growth and success of BIN during our first year,” said Tony Coles, President of BIN. “We are thrilled to continue our leadership in providing the most trusted news source for the Black community, offering even more local news coverage to the communities we serve. BIN’s success has been, in no small part, due to our dedicated and talented team. I look forward to seeing how Tanita, Chris and Lauren continue to grow within BIN, and I am excited to add even more experienced talent to our team.”

iHeartMedia indicates that the expansion of local news coverage will create new employment opportunities including multiple news anchor and reporter positions, a Managing Editor, and a Podcast Managing Editor.

— Rob Dumke

There is a new Senior Vice President and General Manager of Bally Sports West, Bally Sports SoCal and Bally Sports San Diego.

She returns to Southern California after more than a decade in Washington D.C., where she served as President/GM NBC Sports Washington.

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For nearly three-decades the best sellers and managers in the business have been honored with Radio Wayne Awards.

Here are the Radio Ink 2021 Radio Wayne Award finalists:

DIGITAL OR INTERACTIVE SELLER
Tiffany Cobb
Tidewater Communications
Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA

Michael Walden
Audacy
Chattanooga, TN

Cathleen Mingarino
Longport Media
Atlantic City- Cape May, NJ

Deana Poole
Beasley Media Group
Philadelphia, PA

Yoni Schwartz
Audacy
Philadelphia, PA

Ryan Dietrich
Beasley Media Group
Philadelphia, PA

STREETFIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Tich McWilliams
Tuned In Broadcasting
Nashville, TN

Rita Munoz-Dalati
Cumulus Media
Houston-Galveston, TX

Mandy Jo Choat
Williams Media Group
Enid, OK

Roger Nelson
Morgan Murphy Media
Spokane, WA

Kelly Greeley
Capitol Radio Group
Springfield, IL

Melanie Martin
Cox Media Group
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

Paula J. Ingram
Forever Media
Altoona, PA

Steve Simons
Beasley Media Group
Philadelphia, PA

SALES MANAGER 1-2 STATIONS
Tom Hansen
Tuned In Broadcasting
Nashville, TN

Marta DeLisi
Beasley Media Group
Wilmington, DE

Shawneen Thompson
Howard University Radio
Washington, DC

Tim Gratzer
Cumulus Media
Houston-Galveston, TX

Stephen Tarpley
Nexstar
Chicago, IL

Jaime Frankel
Beasley Media Group
Philadelphia, PA

STU OLDS NATIONAL SALES MANAGER
Susan Isreal
Hubbard Radio
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL

Phillip Whisnant
Univision
San Diego, San Francisco & Fresno, CA

Pam Foley Crouch
Press Communications
Monmouth-Ocean, NJ

Amanda Health
Lotus Communications

April Brinks-Bailey
Beasley Media Group
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

DOS OR GENERAL SALES MANAGER
Emily Ward
Audacy
Atlanta, GA

Vince Gambino
Longport Media, LLC
Atlantic City- Cape May, NJ

Paul Blake
Beasley Media Group
Philadelphia, PA

Dawn Girocco
Cumulus Media
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX

Jason (JC) Campese
Cox Media Group
Orlando, FL

Nicki DellaPosta
Audacy
Chicago, IL

MARKET OR GENERAL MANAGER
Mac Edwards
Beasley Media Group
Detroit, MI

Trey Stafford
Saga Communications
Jonesboro, AR

Sabina Widmann
Univision
San Diego, CA, Las Vegas, NV & McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen, TX

Jason Meder
Cox Media Group
Orlando, FL

Keith Lawless
Cox Media Group
Houston-Galveston, TX & Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

Mary Menna
Beasley Media Group
Boston, MA

To address misinformation about COVID-19 in local areas, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is awarding a total of $275,000 in emergency grants to 14 public media stations across the country.

The grants — up to $20,000 each — will go to public television and radio stations in areas with low vaccination and high infection rates or in hotspots with a growing number of coronavirus infections.

Funding will be used to produce or extend programming about the pandemic, to organize community outreach efforts about vaccines and to develop multiplatform public service announcement campaigns.

“Public media stations, locally operated, work with their communities through partnerships of trust,” said Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “General managers of stations serving America’s communities that are hard hit by the pandemic are committed to breaking through the cycle of misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and are providing information that is saving lives.”

Some of the 14 grants include Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson, Miss. The station will produce a series of radio and television broadcast specials focused on COVID-19. The station will also host a virtual town hall with medical experts and produce a social media campaign designed to combat information. Others, like Wyoming Public Media is Laramie, Wyo., will spotlight personal testimonials about COVID infections and increase newsroom reporting on the pandemic’s impact on the state economy. In the east, West Virginia Public Broadcasting in Charleston, W.Va., will orchestrate a multiplatform outreach effort to younger audiences in communities that have been vaccine hesitant.  The station will also work with kids programs like PBS KIDS to reach families with young children.

Other station’s include Arkansas PBS in Conway, Ark., Boise State Public Radio in Boise, KERA in Dallas, Nine PBS in St. Louis, KRSU in Tulsa, Okla., KOSU in Stillwater, Okla., Louisiana Public Broadcasting and WRKF in Baton Rouge, WBHM in Birmingham, Ala., WCTE in Cookeville, Tenn., and WJCT Public Media in Jacksonville, Fla.

 

The post Grants to Help Public Stations Address COVID Misinformation appeared first on Radio World.

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Getty Images/Dmitri Lobyrev Eyeem

The author of this commentary is communication lecturer and faculty director at WGSU(FM)  at SUNY Geneseo, Rochester, N.Y.

Many years ago, more than I care to remember, I heard a radio interview with a major rock artist of the time. I think it was the late Tom Petty. As I recall, the interviewer asked about his politics. His response was something along the lines of, “Man, I’m for everybody.”

It was an astute reply by a savvy public figure recognizing: a.) He was a music artist, not a politician or expert on all things; b.) He had fans of, undoubtedly, many political stripes; and c.) He didn’t want to alienate any of those fans, which was smart — if in a purely financial sense.

Four decades later, celebrities, corporations and, yes, even radio stations big and small seem to glom onto the latest social fad, fancy or frenzy by posting symbols such as colorful flags or raised fists.

Is it wise for radio stations?

Signaling virtue?

The marketers might say so. After all, what’s more important than connecting with the “youth audience” no matter the cause, wrongly viewing “youth” as a monolithic group.

I think they’re wrong — and that Tom Petty was right.

Customizing social-media logos, for instance, to conform with the latest cultural or social fad often represents, at best, virtue signaling — potentially alienating up to half a station’s listeners or more, if many — including those supporting a particular cause — view it as disingenuous corporate pandering, which, let’s be honest, it frequently is.

Consider the reactions to some of the most inane virtue-signaling social-media posts by big corporations. When followers asked Oreo, for instance, “But what does this have to do with cookies?!” … it’s a really good question. And how many radio stations shared rainbow-flag images in June but were too afraid to post the U.S. flag on Memorial Day, Flag Day and Independence Day, even though most of their listeners are Americans … living in America?

This isn’t to suggest that radio stations should avoid ever taking a stand on anything, which would be rather bland — especially for formats, such as talk, with consistent political slants.

But, for others, especially music-formatted stations, first know your audience, and ask yourself beforehand: Is it worth it? Do I really want to potentially alienate up to half — or more — of my listeners? Then think about your own motivation: Is it genuine? Or could it be seen as “jumping on the bandwagon” and pandering, if, deep down, there’s a good chance it is?

For many consumers, virtue signaling (“woke smoke” from “woke capitalism”) is growing wearying and off-putting, with a strong chance of backlash. So whether selling Oreo cookies or trying to reach radio audiences in especially challenging times for legacy media, why make the effort even harder by potentially alienating half your customer base? Instead, consider adhering to the venerable business-school advice: “Stick to the knitting“ — with what you know.

Tom Petty had it right: Just be “for everybody.”

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor“ in the subject field.

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