Industry News

A small broadcaster with TV stations in its home market of Salisbury-Ocean City, Md.; adjacent city Dover, Del.; Bowling Green, Ky.; Glenwood Springs, Colo.; and two Georgia markets in June 2020 agreed to a transaction involving Jeff and Janet Winemiller.

Now, the Winemillers are selling another property to this company — this time a LPTV facility serving Music City USA.

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In a major development heralding the possibilities for all broadcasters with the new ATSC 3.0 digital television broadcast standard, the first Broadcast Internet remote learning service has been deployed.

It is now up and running in the Nation’s Capital, and its over-the-air launch is thanks in part to a partnership with ONE Media 3.0 and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The EduCast service’s deployment is a victory for Chantilly, Va.-based SpectraRep, and is utilizing the NEXTGENTV signal powering Sinclair’s WIAV-CD 44 in Washington, D.C.

The facility’s signal contour covers the entire National Capital Region and the Baltimore suburbs.

The deployment is the first Broadcast Internet remote learning service in the nation to utilize NextGen TV to deliver educational services that are designed to mitigate broadband access issues for students and teachers around the country.

In short, EduCast allows educators to immediately evaluate and deploy Broadcast Internet in the region for remote learning.

Broadcast Internet, also known as datacasting, uses digital television transmission infrastructure to deliver IP-based content to users within a broadcaster’s transmission footprint.

“When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and students and teachers were sent home, we saw the negative impacts on remote learners without access to adequate broadband,” said Mark O’Brien, President and Chief Technology Officer of SpectraRep. “Issues like homework gaps and equity in education became even more acute, and we quickly realized we could help to bridge the digital divide through our technology and the enhanced advances offered by ATSC 3.0, in the same way we’ve supported public safety and law enforcement customers.”

EduCast uses a portion of the digital television capacity to deliver a secure, wireless data network that safely delivers targeted assignments, course materials and classroom
videos to students.

O’Brien says EduCast is operational and available in 12 states using the ATSC 1.0 transmission standard.

With ATSC 3.0, “we can directly support even more students faster and in a timeframe and manner that keeps them learning no matter what the new school year brings,” O’Brien says.

John McCoskey, SpectraRep’s COO, adds, “When the ATSC 3.0 standard was ratified, we knew it could dramatically improve our service offerings due to its native IP architecture, increased data capacity, and better reception characteristics. Our goal was to enhance our services to operate using both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 transmission systems and to provide stations and end users a simple, no-cost transition from one to the other. At the station that means just configuration changes and moving a few cables. The in-home receiver we chose and have deployed already supports both transmission standards.”

In anticipation of the staggered and voluntary transition of stations from the current standard to NextGen TV ATSC 3.0, SpectraRep partnered with DigiCAP to develop an advanced in-home receiver capable of simultaneous operation using both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 transmission.

Educators access the EduCast service using their existing Learning Management System (LMS) and tools. In a student’s home, the DigiCAP receiver connects to a simple TV antenna that is used to receive the broadcast signal and the IP content it carries.  The receiver establishes a Wi-Fi hotspot in the home that students connect to with their Chromebook, tablet, laptop, or smartphone.  The receiver stores up to 128 GBytes of educator-curated content.  This can include videos, presentation slides, worksheets, interactive documents, and images. Anything that can be saved as a file can be delivered.

On June 30, 2017, Continental Broadcasting Corp. sold a Class B AM in Phoenix to an entity controlled by Vic Michael Jr.

Now, less than two years after asking the FCC for a Construction Permit allowing him to “diplex” the AM with another property he owned, Michael is spinning this kHz-band facility along with its FM translator.

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If the audio media company formerly known as Entercom ever needed a shot in the arm from a Wall Street analyst, it arrived over the weekend.

The Insiders Forum, which reviews “attractive small- and mid-cap” stock insiders are buying, says now is the time to purchase Audacy shares. Why?

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For more than 10 years, New York Spectrum Holding Company — controlled by Chau-Chi “Charles” Wong — has engaged in the acquisition of low-power broadcast TV stations. Among the licensee’s leaders across its history is Vern Fotheringham, CEO of ARK Multicasting.

In recent weeks, Wong has emerged as a seller, and has agreed to spin LPTVs in Florida to Ravi Kapur. Now, Wong is exiting Houston.

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One month ago, a licensee led by Will Hill agreed to purchase an AM/FM combo, along with an FM translator, in a deal brokered by two individuals who know the lay of the land — Cody, Wyo.-based Larry and Susan Patrick.

Now, it is known that Hill is adding another Wyoming FM, this time in the municipality of Hudson.

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The author is general manager, KTRL/KXTR, Tarleton State University.

I manage two stations at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, and we have used Tieline’s Report-IT app and iMix G3, Commander and Merlin codecs in the past.

Recently we purchased the Tieline Gateway 8 to use for sports and other remote broadcasts on KTRL(FM) 90.5 MHz and KXTR(LP) 100.7 MHz. Some Gateway channels are hooked up to a Logitek console in one studio via a JetStream Mini, and others are hooked up to the Logitek console in our other studio. Codec outputs are networked across to all three of our Logitek consoles, including a production suite.

KXTR is heard in Erath County, and KTRL covers a large section of North Central Texas and reaches Fort Worth and the outskirts of Waco. Both stations are also streamed online.

We selected the Tieline Gateway 8 as it streamlined our setup by using a single codec for remotes on both stations. Tieline’s upgrade path allows us to expand channel capabilities via software upgrades in future as required.

My “Go-to”

The new Gateway 8 replaces an older Commander codec being used for remote broadcasts across our campus and community. It also replaces a Tieline Merlin in preparation for the football season here at Tarleton State.

We use the Gateway to send live audio back to the station and send station mix-minus audio to the remote site. The Gateway delivers flexibility. We can handle two sports broadcasts on both stations or be doing a remote broadcast on campus on one station, and a sports broadcast on the other.

Tieline is my go-to for remotes. Its integration with older equipment and being able to use the Report-IT app are major reasons. We replaced our iMix G3 with the ViA, and our Athletics department has done the same, so we are using Tieline ViAs for all our remotes nowadays. We will use the Commander and iMix G3 that they replaced as a backup STL.

The transition was pretty simple. Like the Gateway, our Logitek console uses RJ45 for the ins and outs. With the Merlin and Commander we had to use RJ45-to-XLR adapters, but with the Gateway we can get rid of those and go straight in/out.

The university has a fiber-based IP network, and we use AT&T hotspots to connect on-site. Our athletics team uses AT&T and Verizon. Connections are reliable in this area, but with sports broadcasts, that can depend on where an away game is located.

Quality and functionality is the best part about broadcasting using IP codecs. When you compare codecs to a cellphone or POTS line, the overall quality difference with Tieline is undeniable.

During the pandemic we worked with a staff of three, myself and two student workers. We actually used Report-IT, along with our Commander and eventually Gateway more than ever before. It was the best way for us to put students on the air. They can download the TieServer Console and Report-IT apps on their phone and we could put them on the air in a snap.

The Tieline Toolbox Web-GUI for configuration and control is easy to use and very helpful for configuration and control. Tieline’s Cloud Codec Controller is also something we plan to use for remote control of equipment. We have a lot of students and play-by-play announcers doing broadcasts who are not very familiar with the equipment, so being able to control everything remotely would be incredibly useful.

Tieline’s quality is great. It is the best of any other options we have used in the past and we have had nothing but great experiences with Tieline’s technical support. We have had very positive feedback from our engineer and all of the people who use the equipment on a weekly basis. They have been some of the most reliable and best working pieces of equipment we have.

Info: Contact Doug Ferber at Tieline at 1-888-211-6989. For international queries contact Charlie Gawley in Western Australia at 61-8-9413-2000 or visit www.tieline.com.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

The post User Report: Gateway Delivers Flexibility for Tarleton State appeared first on Radio World.

A Hubbard Broadcasting Country station’s morning show has a feature devoted to it. Memes and internet stories refer to it regularly, too.

The “Florida Man” and its regular use in stories highlighting some of the Sunshine State’s random acts of stupidity led John Caracciolo and his JVC Media to brand his company’s Hot Talk stations targeting male listeners “Florida Man Radio.”

Now, JVC is spinning one of these stations — an FM serving the market that’s home to the University of Florida.

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Dear RW,

You recently quoted the late Bob du Treil Sr. as saying, “I’d bend the rules but not break them. Though the FCC may disagree with that.”

A man after my own heart.

Even at stations where I was only chief operator of record (to ensure rules compliance) and was actually the PD or OM with major engineering done by contract, I had a few clever “Gumbyizing” moments. I’ll tell you one where the FCC was decidedly not happy with me but were powerless to stop me.

The station was KAAP(AM/FM) in Santa Paula, Calif., part of the Oxnard-Ventura market but with a city of license best known for its lemon and avocado groves. The husband-and-wife owners tried every way they could to bury that part of the legal ID; at one point they had TM cut a jingle with the words “Santa Paula” a significant number of dB down from the main, then back-timed its start so that it would be buried by the old drumroll intro to the news from the American Information (ABC) Network.

When I got there, I handled the city of license “problem” by building it into the newscasts’ weather formatic: “Ventura County weather: (read forecast) … Current area temperatures from KAAP AM and FM: Santa Paula 82 degrees, 70 in Ventura and in Oxnard 72. Now more of Ventura County’s favorite music on FM 97 and AM 14 (jingle).”

Inevitably, the FCC eventually turned up after monitoring us all morning and “not hearing” a legal ID (I suspect a competitor had “turned us in”). I let them sit in the control room while I did the weather after the noon ABC news, but even then they didn’t catch it. It wasn’t until I pointed out the ID in the copy book that they saw, then claimed I was violating “the spirit of the rule.” I countered that because the ID met the requirements as specified in §73.1201 they couldn’t issue a NAV for “spirit violation.” They did not leave happily.

The husband had been out on sales calls when the FCC arrived; he laughed for a full five minutes when I related it to him. (The wife, who was also the bookkeeper, had locked herself in her office when she heard the FCC was in the building.)

I suspect Mr. du Treil would have been proud of me.

Radio World welcomes letters to the editor about any article or relevant radio industry issue. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line.

The post Letter to the Editor: Bending the Rules appeared first on Radio World.

Some of the Federal Communications Commission’s more arcanely worded documents are reminiscent of that Dr. Seuss book, “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky Your Are?”, wherein a bee watcher is watched by a watcher, who in turn gets watched by a watch-watcher and a watch-watch-watcher, and so on.

So it went for a pair of broadcast licensees who traded amendments, curative amendments and supplements to the curative amendment as they sought a ruling from the Media Bureau about a new construction permit for a new FM translator station in New Jersey.

In 2018 Clear Communications filed an application to build a new cross-service FM translator on Channel 293 in Vineland, N.J. Soon after a petition to deny was filed by the licensee Press Communications, who said the translator would cause interference to listeners of its co-channel station WTHJ(FM) in Bass River Township, N.J.

[Read: LPFM Station Allowed to Resume Operations]

In September 2019, the bureau concluded that Press had adequately proven its claims of predicted interference to WTHJ listeners. The Media Bureau granted Press’ petition to deny and dismissed Clear’s construction application.

Clear then filed a petition for reconsideration and reinstatement — specifically a nunc pro tunc opposition (Latin for “now for then”) that is used to retroactively correct an earlier ruling. Clear also submitted a minor curative amendment to the application that would modify the translator’s directional antenna pattern to eliminate predicted interference to Press’ FM station. Clear urged the Media Bureau to grant its reconsideration and reinstate the application, arguing that a reconsideration was justified because the bureau had failed to follow its own notification procedures that were revised in a 2019 order clarifying the FCC’s FM translator interference process.

Specifically, Clear said it had been waiting for a letter from the commission saying that the interference claims from Press were properly submitted and that a deadline had been set by which Clear had to resolve any complaints.

More back and forth began from there. Press argued that the nunc pro tunc policy did not apply and even with some curative amendments that Clear made, the application should still be deemed unacceptable due to predicted interference to WTHJ listeners. Clear disagreed, asserting that the nunc pro tunc policy applied and that nothing in the new FM translator interference order suggested otherwise.

Press then alleged that listeners within WTHJ’s 45 dBu contour would still experience interference from the translator, even with the curative amendment changes. Plus, Clear’s requests should be denied, Press said, because the filing of the amendment is unacceptable under the commission’s clarified translator rules.

In response, Clear filed a supplement and amendment document, arguing that it should be allowed to make an additional curative amendment to the first amendment because Press submitted new evidence of predicted interference to additional listeners. Clear was not aware of those listeners when Clear redesigned its proposal to protect the previously identified listeners, the licensee said. And the amendment to the curative amendment should be permitted under the nunc pro tunc policy because the petition remains pending.

Despite the wordiness of some language (and Dr. Seuss watch-watcher references aside), FCC procedural rules are clear in several areas. Petitions for reconsideration and any supplements are required to be filed within 30 days of public notice of the actions taken, a timeline that Clear met.

However, said Press, the second supplement itself was filed after the 30-day window had passed. But Clear retorted that the commission should accept this late-filed supplement because it responds to new evidence submitted by Press itself (even though that new evidence was filed after the 30-day deadline).

And the Media Bureau agreed.  When it came to more substantive issues, another thing is clear about Clear: the commission’s nunc pro tunc policy does apply here, the bureau said, and it can accept Clear’s amendment to the curative amendment that accompanied the supplement. That’s because Clear did file its reconsideration request within 30 days and — given the limited nature of the cross-service FM translator filing window — denying this reconsideration request would preclude Clear from an opportunity to obtain a fill-in AM translator, the bureau said.

Even though the bureau acknowledged that there are previous commission decisions that suggest an applicant may file only one curative amendment (here, Clear submitted two) that rule doesn’t apply here. In this case, the bureau only technically dismissed the application once back in September 2020. It was only after Press submitted new information about potential interference — after the 30-day deadline had passed — which thereby rendered Clear’s first curative amendment defective. And having determined that the bureau should accept the amendment to the curative amendment, the bureau said that the proposed facilities and amended application are acceptable for filing.

After the twists and turns, the bureau moved to accept the amendment to the curative amendment, which revised the antenna contour to be directional in nature and also granted a construction permit on Channel 225 (instead of the original Channel 293 to address interference issues).

In the end, the Media Bureau granted the amended the application to Clear for the new FM translator. No bee watchers needed after all.

The post Licensees Finally Get Clear Answer on FM Translator Construction Permit appeared first on Radio World.