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Notes from all over: what
has been happening in Broadcasting
A link to Current Happenings
DECEMBER
- 12/30/10 - After 37 years with the
FCC, District Director Bill Zears retired from the San Diego Field
Office on this date. According to information from June Gonzales, Bill
has no immediate plans aside from relaxing a bit.
Jim Lyons is now the acting District Director in San Diego.
- 12/24/10 - Confused about the FCC's
theory of "Network Neutrality?"
You are not alone. This contentious Rule has the Communications Bar
scrambling to understand it and what effect it will have on
broadcasters.
Here are some highlights that might clarify things. Perhaps if can be
summed up this way:
1. Transparency
- ISPs are to publicly disclose what they are doing in terms of
management practices and performance of their services.
2. No blocking
- wired ISPs shall not block lawful content. Wireless providers shall
not block lawful content subject to reasonable network management.
3. No
unreasonable discrimination - wired ISPs cannot engage in
"unreasonable" discrimination of lawful traffic, subject to
reasonable network management. Wireles providers would not be
required to prevent discrimination.
4. Paid
prioritization - this is not forbidden, but discouraged.
It is important to understand that the Rules will
apply to the so-called "last
mile" provider and not to the backbone and peering carriers.
Another specific exemption is for airlines, coffee shops, and
bookstores. And foreign sources are not included.
BDR Comments: While the hue and
cry have started, this is a long way from having real substance.
There are a lot of claims and
statements using terms like "may" and "might" which invite legal
challenges. Entire legal careers have been built on defining
"reasonable." Since even the basic FCC authority over the Internet
itself is unclear, we can expect this to drag for quite a while.
- 12/23/10 - Perhaps a key item for
your attention over the next two weeks is that the 2010-Q4
Issues & Programs report needs to be in the
Public File by January 10th.
BDR Comments:
This is especially important now, as we
are soon heading into the renewal cycle for radio stations. For those of
you at clusters, remember the
Issues & Programs will be different for each station -
especially if the City of License varies among the stations. As some
report, failure to do this can result in some nasty fines; the Issues & Programs
folder is a place most inspectors check first, as it is pretty easy to
determine a Violation. Take the time to do it right.
In other words, do not just
copy one Issues & Programs page and stick it in every folder.
-
12/21/10 - Intelsat, the owner of
the rogue Galaxy 15 satellite
which has been drifting in orbit since a solar storm in April with
transmitters stuck "on" now reports the satellite lost earth lock and
the C and L band transponders have shut down (some telemetry beacons
still are running). Intelsat now
believes it has regained control, possibly even to the point of
eventual recovery of the satellite.
Galaxy 15 was expected to cross Galaxy 16's position between Dec 24 and
Dec 28, so this news should reduce any remaining worries for
broadcasters. Current
position here. Zoom in to see the "wobble."
-
12/20/10 - The lame duck Congress
passed the Community Low Power Radio Act over the weekend. The Senate
passed it unanimously with NAB support after provision to protect
existing full power FM stations was inserted.
BDR Comments: Mostly this
loosens the Third-Adjacent protections, but is unlikely to result in any
major number of stations in large markets. Still, while making it easier
for smaller market stations to start, it will take relaxing the non-comm
status of LPFMs and preventing the religious application mills from
preventing the desired local participation to truly grow local radio.
-
12/20/10 - AT&T has purchased the
spectrum used for FLO-TV from Qualcomm. The price: $1.93 billion - which
should leave a nice profit to Qualcomm, even after the expenses and
losses in operations. Qualcomm bought the bandwidth for about $700
million.
AT&T is expected to use the frequencies as a part of its 4G plans.
Widely criticized for poor service, especially in major cities, AT&T
clearly hopes this will give it a quick, solid gain in service.
-
12/16/10 - Radio Broadcast
Communications, Inc (William Parris III) is
buying WAMD, Aberdeen
(Baltimore), for $1. Sold for $3 million just three years
ago, it had been LMA'd to RBC for $3500 a month.
BDR Comments:
A bargain? A steal? $1 to buy any
station in the #22 market (and just down the road from the #9 market)
might be the buy of the year, depending upon your viewpoint. Salem at
least may have gotten its money's worth by lowering WAMD's power so
their NYC area station WNYM could go from 5 to 50 kW.
-
12/16/10 - President Obama signed
the CALM Act (Commercial
Advertising Loudness Mitigation) on Wednesday, just two weeks after
(12/3) Congress passed the Act. It mandates that within a year,
broadcasters ensure that advertising audio levels will match program
levels and not blast viewers' ears.
-
12/15/10 - Copper thieves stripped a
christmas tree in Birmingham, AL, and ended up
burning the tree down.
BDR Comments: With copper still
at an all-time high, what are you doing to protect you ground system?
-
12/14/10 -
LPFM advocates gathered
in front of the NAB headquarters in Washington, DC on Monday to protest
the NAB's opposition to increasing LPFM's reach.
Organized by the Prometheus
Project - a grass roots group seeking to promote LPFM, the
demonstration seeks support for
an LPFM Bill now before the Senate. Their goal is to get passage
of the Bill which could authorize "hundreds of new stations, bringing
LPFM to urban areas for the first time.
BDR Comments: According to
Prometheus of the 42 radio stations in the New Orleans area, only four
of them survived Katrina and stayed on the air during and after the
hurricane - including two LPFM stations. It is clear that LPFM did
provide some service. Whether they deserve more latitude of operation is
the question.
-
12/12/10 - KBIS (1490 AM) and KDBD-FM
(96.7) in Forks, WA were heavily damaged by a rare lightning storm on
Wednesday, December 9th. At the weekend, station officials and engineers
were still assessing the damage.
Jim Dalke of SBE Chapter 16 noted "The stations are the only commercial
radio stations covering the remote Northwest region of Washington State.
It is not known how soon the station operations can be restored."
Dalke further reports "It is not
known how soon the station operations can be restored. The lightning not
only destroyed the stations tower lighting, FM isolation equipment and
ATU, but all of the stations program automation, telephone equipment and
computer networking. Condition of the stations transmitters are
unknown, but may be damaged as well. ... The lightning storm also caused a fire
that destroyed a nearby home and caused an electrical outage that
affected more than 3,000 customers in the Forks area."
A brief local newspaper article is here.
-
12/9/10 - In Nevada, workers on a water
line severed a fiber optic cable
killing reverse 911, Internet, and cellular services in the
Reno/Carson City areas on Wednesday. "The 911 was down completely," said
a Sheriff's Deputy. A local news story with some more details is
located here.
Finally, some news crews made it to the site of the problem and were
able to report about the cause and the ongoing repair efforts.
BDR Comments: Some will remember
that a reverse 911 service was killed recently for over two hours at the
height of a major fire in Boulder, CO, proving again that, no matter how
much some bureaucrat crows about his new "reverse 911" service, it is
broadcast that serves to inform the public in these situations.
-
12/4/10 - The FCC has announced another
FM Auction. #91, scheduled for April 27, 2011. Applications
to participate will run from January 31 to February 10th. An
FM minor change freeze will commence at the same time.
-
12/3/10 - A couple of interesting
proposed forfeitures this week:
1. A $10,000 forfeiture
has been proposed for a Pennsylvania station cited for not having a
"meaningful management and staff presence." The station was visited and
advised of the Main Studio Rule
Violation, but did nothing at all. A subsequent visit three weeks
later found exactly the same conditions. A "Director and Officer" of the
station was contacted - and told the agent "she was not aware of the
main studio requirement... "
The FCC
Notice of Apparent Liability is located here.
BDR Comments: It is never a good
idea to fail to immediately respond to direction from the Field Agent.
And claiming "we didn't know" just does not cut it at all. In this case,
it resulted in almost a 50% upward adjustment in the fine.
2.
A $6,000 forfeiture has
been proposed for an Oregon station that
did not lower power at
sunset from 1000 Watts to 15 Watts as required. The station owner told
this agent that he knew he was required to reduce power under Section
73.1745(a), but "it was too expensive" to do it.
BDR Comments: Seems like a
textbook case of "willful and repeated." Again the 50% upward adjustment
probably is cheap compared to what may happen if the station does not
correct matters immediately.
-
12/2/10 - While giving information
about the open access initiative he plans to introduce for a vote by
Commissioners on December 21st, the FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski,
has reportedly expressed his
support for a metered, pay-as-you-go pricing plan for Internet
usage. The proposal met with sharp division among the Commissioners.
Details of
Genachowski's proposal are still not fully known, nor are the
exactly boundaries of the main proposal, dealing with "Net Neutrality."
While there is a desire to ensure free access to the Internet, Genachowski's proposal appears to be leaning toward giving ISPs come
control over bandwidth usage from both sender and receiver.
-
12/1/10 - A new report from industry
advisors BIA/Kelsey show quite a few
AM stations using FM
translators. In
a report on revenue
forecasts for radio, BIA/Kelsey notes that 400 of the 6000
translators are now relaying AM stations; another significant use is for
HD stations to feed analog translators with a multicast channel.
Some markets now have as many as five AMs on FM translators according to
BIA/Kelsey.
BDR Comments: AM stations have
sought help to deal with coverage and sunset/sunrise issues for years.
Especially in small towns and counties, the translators certainly could
help stations survive.
-
12/1/10 - Another FCC action - mostly
involving TV - is underway. The 5-0 vote is going to try to do three
things on the TV spectrum:
- Auction some TV bandwidth
- "repacking" TV, so two or more
stations share one 6 MHz allocation
- Permit more power on VHF
BDR Comments:
Overall, the agencies goal is to make
more UHF space available for cell phones and wireless broadband. The FCC
contends that less than 10% of Americans get their TV over the air, so
they see TV as a waste of spectrum they could divert to cell and WiMax.
Back to the top
NOVEMBER
-
11/30/10 -
Dr. Marshall Leach, Jr.
passed away
Saturday, November 20th, at the age of 70. Leach, an international
authority who taught Electrical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of
Electronics, pioneered the design of high quality audio amplifiers and
public address systems. Leach's recent course load included Op Amp Design, Low Noise Electronic
Design, and Microelectronic Circuits.
-
11/29/10 - A 25-year-old
man fell from KPFA's tower
in Oakland, CA, and died on Thanksgiving day. Apparently, he had
been climbing at about 4:30 AM and got about 2/3 of the way up the tower
before falling.
Story from the Berkeley Daily Planet
-
11/29/10 - It appears the Performance
Royalty issue is dead for the moment.
BDR Comments: The link
between the initial royalty payments and mandating FM chips in
cellphones is another clue that it sure seems like the industry has lost
focus on what is needed to put growth back into broadcasting. You can be
sure this will come back in the new Congress next year.
-
11/23/10 - As was hoped for by many,
the FCC today adopted an order to extend the CAP-EAS clock to at
least September 30, 2011.
The full Order is located here.
Now all we need is action on the Part 11 changes!
-
11/22/10 - Amazingly, it has been
almost two months into the "180-Clock" -
already 1/3 of the six month
"Clock"! -
mandating the purchase of CAP enhanced EAS receivers and
nothing has been heard from the
FCC as yet in terms of signaling their intent on this matter.
In order to press the issue of a need for delay, a group of independent
EAS stakeholders, the Broadcast Warning Working Group (BWWG) has
filed
a petition stressing the
need for an extension as well as to get still unaddressed CAP-EAS issues
on the record. A summary
is posted
here.
BDR Comments: It is amazing to
see that two months after an FCC
Commissioner said he sees the need for an extension that an Order
said to be in front of the Commission for over two weeks has yet to be
approved. Something needs to
happen to address the anxiety on the part of broadcasters and
manufacturers, who are being asked to build and buy gear when the
requirements are still not known.
Perhaps this is the week? Perhaps this is the day?
-
11/18/10 - Our first set of winners
in the Newsletter
Subscription Giveaway have been announced. They are:
Mike Bove` - Calhoun Communications wins a
Scott Fybush 2011 Tower Site Calendar.
Ken Fisher - Golden West Radio is our first new subscriber to get
a $100 prize.
SBE Chapter 18 - Philadelphia also won $100 prize for referring a
subscriber.
-
11/18/10 - Wheatstone
commissioned a report, based on a survey of engineers and operations and
technical management as to which business models will generate the
most revenue for radio broadcasters. That the Internet and streaming
are key technologies is not a surprise, nor is the lack of expertise in
some parts of the industry.
You will also find some of the other findings interesting as well, to
say the least.
The study "Revenue Generating Radio Technologies - A progress report"
can be downloaded at
http://wheatstone-radio.com/avalanche/aletheawheatstone-radio-study.html
-
11/16/10 -
The FCC is planning public hearings, including one that will be
streamed on the web on December 6th, as part of what they call a
Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) of the Antenna Structure
Registration (ASR) program.
The purpose is to see what new Rules might be needed to abate
what some have claimed is a large negative effect on migratory birds by
radio towers.
BDR Comments: While
environmental lawyers love this stuff, few broadcasters have ever seen
the mass killings that are alleged. Still it is important for
broadcasters to know what is going on with these hearings. Otherwise,
who knows what funny new Rules will pop up to protect the odd birdy?
-
11/12/10 - Too busy to repair an EAS
receiver? In one of the more bizarre NALs (Notice of Apparent
Liability for Forfeiture), the
EB has tagged a station in Kansas for not having an operational EAS
box for somewhere between four and ten years.
Yes, you read correctly. According to the response to the FCC, KANR
disconnected the power cord to their EAS "sometime between the
year 2000 and the year 2006 and had remained inoperable since then."
The station had no idea when its last EAS test was conducted.
The inattention to following the FCC Rules was also noted in their
failure to renew the paint on the tower or make the daily observation of
the tower lights, which were either dark or not flashing. (The
station "offered" an observation was made sometime during the
daytime!) And then there is the little matter of a Public File
that was missing the required Issues/Programs lists the
past two years.
BDR Comments: Many radio
stations are under pressure in the current economic slowdown, but these
long-standing violations posed real danger to the community. A tower
that cannot be seen is a substantial danger to pilots. Lack of an EAS
receiver puts the community in danger should a civic emergency occur.
The "reduced" fine of $25,000 is a pretty large fine for an individual
station. But the complete disregard for the community calls for a
substantial response from the FCC. One might wonder why it took so long
for an inspection to find these violations - but surely good engineering
and business practices should have mandated fixing these issues long
ago. Some might even suggest this owner should not be in the radio
business.
-
11/8/10 -
No, your ears are not deceiving you.
Another series of spots are
running EAS tones as attention getters - this time on TV and
Cable (we've not heard of any on radio as yet). The ads for "Skyline"
appear to have a series of tones that hint of a RMT in Pennsylvannia,
but no EOM.
If that were not enough, reports show a Fox Sport Radio program
apparently ran a couple of RWTs as a "bit" with an Athens, OH location
code. And, the EAS protocols were also lampooned on a TBS show.
BDR Comments:
This seems clearly to be another violation of
Part 11.45, at least for broadcasters and Cable. And, it is getting worse. As we
suggested previously, the FCC should issue a definitive statement about
this.
Reference: 11.45 - Prohibition of false or deceptive EAS
transmissions.
No person may transmit or cause to transmit the EAS codes or
Attention Signal, or a recording or simulation thereof, in any
circumstance other than in an actual National, State or Local Area
emergency or authorized test of the EAS. Broadcast station licensees
should also refer to 73.1217 of this chapter.
-
11/8/10 - Some
relief for broadcasters
worried about the "180-day Clock" appears to be around the corner. An
Order circulated to the FCC Commissioners last week would extend the
compliance date to at least September 29, 2011
- with an additional extension if the Part
11 re-write proceeding complicates matters. Stand by
for more info
as we get it.
-
11/5/10 - REMINDER! DST
ENDS for most of the country this weekend. Set your clocks back and get
back into step with Arizona! <g>
-
11/5/10 - Not a good day for
broadcast engineers. Bill
Weisinger passed away from cancer. Also
Frank Roberts was critically
injured list night after a chemical explosion at his home in
Austin.
Roberts, part of the Austin City Limits staff and a federally
licensed explosive technician, was preparing pyro-technic special
effects for a weekend WWII re-enactment when an
explosion burned
him severely and caused the amputation of his left hand and loss of
two fingers and part of a thumb on the right hand.
-
11/4/10 - November 6th is the
75th Anniversary of Major
Armstrong's FM transmissions from Alpine, NJ. To commemorate it,
the 42.8 MHz channel will be alive at Noon EDT with transmissions from
an experimental station - WA2XMN - in honor of the original W2XMN.
Although not the original Armstrong transmitter, a
replica of a 1946 GE BT-11-B
Phasitron transmitter, constructed for the station, will be on
the air. Its technology is similar to that of Armstrong's.
There was a 70th Anniversary broadcast which was received as far away as
100 miles. Listeners who are interested in getting a confirmation of
their reception of the 75th Anniversary program will be able to do so at
WA2XMN@ar88.net
-
11/3/10 - A little known (as yet) group
called Engineers for the Integrity
of the Broadcast Auxiliary Services Spectrum (EIBASS) continues
to file on topics of interest to broadcast engineers.
According to Co-Chair Dane
Ericksen, a Public Notice item in the FCC Daily Digest for July 30, 2010
requested comments on assigning certain frequencies for Maritime Coastal
stations - including the entire
161 MHz Band of RPU channels. By August 14, 2010, EIBASS had
filed comments noting the potential conflicts with existing broadcast
RPU channels. No other group made a filing on this issue, which could
have crippled RPU operations in many coastal cities.
On October 28, 2010, another Public Notice was issued, with the 161 MHz
channels used by broadcasters no longer listed as available to Maritime.
BDR Comments: Kudos for
the eleven volunteers who comprise EIBASS and look out for broadcasters
interests.
-
11/2/10 -
Today is NOT the 90th
Anniversary of the start of broadcasting!
While many textbooks and reference works do tend to follow the
oft-told story of KDKA
being the "First Broadcaster" or "The First Commercial Broadcaster" or
"the beginning of commercial radio" or some such title, a lot of
research indicates KDKA was certainly a pioneer, one of the first to be
true "broadcasters" in the sense of reaching a vast audience with
radiotelephone audio, they
likely were not the first.
Naming KDKA as the first broadcaster is not as bad as the old Uncle Don
myth or the David Sarnoff sitting at a lonely desk when the Titanic went
down. However, it does ignore the contributions of Doc Herrold, who
broadcast radiotelephone on a regular schedule at least from 1912 - or
WWJ (as 8MK) which started in August 1920 - or XWA in Canada in 1919.
It is true that KDKA was among the first to be granted a "Limited
Commercial License." However, whether or not this was a clerical error,
"Commercial" meant something rather different than it does today. In the
late 19-teens it mean a station operated to sell its services to
customers. Radiotelegraph would be a good example. Additionally,
although AT&T's house-generated book tried to claim they were the first
to run paid advertising on WEAF, this claim too is incorrect.
Here is a
discussion of "Who Was First?"
Here is a
discussion about the early radio commercial advertisements
And, for those who would like to
investigate some of the famous broadcasting hoaxes or myths ...
here is a
discussion of that.
Back to the top
OCTOBER
-
10/23/10 -
A man died and a woman
severely burned while apparently trying to steal copper wire from an electical vault in South Gate (LA), California. The police reports an
explosion - and they found a screaming woman who was burned when she
tried to pull the man away.
Fifteen feet away ... two small children - one is only 3 years old - sat
in a pickup truck. Some
video is here.
BDR Comments:
Copper prices are back near their all time highs. So not think the rash
of copper thefts have stopped. Protect your ground systems and air
conditioners!
-
FURTHER
UPDATE: 10/23/10
- The Alcatel-Lucent
Bell Systems Technical Journal
site is back up.
The Public Server was apparently overloaded by all the requests
for BSJT files (possibly hundreds or thousands of requests to download
the whole site at once).
10/18/10 -
Alcatel-Lucent have put the entire
run of the Bell System Technical
Journal on line at
http://bstj.bell-labs.com/ The very first article from
the first issue in 1922 has several articles that are still of interest.
-
10/22/10 -
The expected resignation of
Randy Michaels, most recently CEO of Tribune Co, was accepted
this afternoon by the Tribune Board of Directors.
According in the
NY Times, it was not an easy week for the embattled, bankrupt
company. Initially, Michaels refused to resign until after Sam Zell
urged the action, after a series of allegations that Michaels and his
staff had created a work environment that offended many people,
including pornography, sexual banter, huge bonuses to management while
4200 were laid off and many more went with no raises at all.
-
UPDATE: 10/21/10 -
Parts are en route from the factory to
repair the power divider at the Empire State Building and repairs should
be completed over this coming weekend.
10/19/10 -
The power divider on the master
antenna at the Empire State
Building failed on Sunday and Monday. Reports indicate stations
moved to stand-by antennas, either on the ESB or over at Four Times
Square. Eventually the Master FM feed was moved to the old Alford
antenna while the power divider was disassembled and inspected.
Some pictures were shared
... and parts are being acquired for repair. In the meantime, the main
feed was apparently returned to the top half of the main antenna, for
stations that did not transfer to other sites.
-
10/21/10 -
Finally! Today, as expected - although it took a
little bit longer than to happen than it was thought to take - the NAB,
along with the SBE, AMST, NCTA, APTS, PBS, NPR, and NASBA, representing
about 46 state broadcast associations, filed
a petition with the FCC to
extend the 180-day clock. There are some serious issues that
should be addressed, and it is hoped that
the
NAB's petition will spark some dialog with the industry. Want to see
all
the comments since the Proceeding started in 2004 (yes, 2004!)?
The general word is that there is bureaucratic desire to see this
happen.
As I have been saying: "Don't Panic!"
It is quite possible that this will permit the manufacturers to take the
time to make available the best possible options for broadcasters, and
perhaps add some additional features to the system.
BDR Comments: There has
been a lot of anxiety kicked up by the "180-Day Clock." Many folks,
including some on the SBE's EAS Committee, have been waving the flag on
this issue for months/years. Let's hope the FCC makes a very rapid
statement on this, so the manufacturers and stations can put together an
orderly and well-designed plan to implement the CAP protocols that have
been six years or so in the making. (And let's hope the NAB stays on top
of things, making it a priority.)
The BDR
EAS Q&A will be updated
with this, and other information as it comes. You are welcome to check
it out at:
www.theBDR.net/articles/fcc/eas/eas.html
-
UPDATE:
10/12/10 - KZSF returned to the air today iwith a vintage
SX1-A. KSJX is about to return using a Collins 820D-2. Both
stations will operate as 1 kW STA until more complete reconstruction can
occur.
10/9/10 -
KZSF (1370) and KSJX (1500) in San Jose,
CA, lost their transmitter building and 5 kW transmitters to a fire
caused by a traffic accident on Highway 101. The car fires lit off the
grass, which then hit trees, and finally
the
transmitter building burned down.
The KSJX studio was also burned, but the four towers on site are said to
be OK. KSJX is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, KZSF by Carlos
Duharte's "La Kaliente." The fire also threatened a Kelloggs' factory
where Eggo's are made.
Here's a link to a map of the site. This link leads to
a report on the local ABC affiliate.
BDR Comments: Sometimes it is not possible, due to neighbors -
or governmental agencies - but keeping an area around the transmitter
building (studio, too!) clear of combustibles is worth a thought.
-
10/8/10 -
Reports have emerged that Apple is
getting ready to release an iPhone for the Verizon cell network. It is
supposed to happen in early 2011.
-
10/7/10 -
CSRIC releases its report to the FCC on EAS, IPAWS, etc.
BDR Comments: Among the 33 recommendations: Extend the clock
to at least a year.
More detailed
info and the Q&A is here.
-
10/1/10 -
Trying to offer
some clarity: Yes, the
"180-day clock" is running on the EAS CAP upgrades. However, there is a
growing wave of broadcasters who realize this is not going to work. Even
some folks at the FCC PSHSB are
worried about this. Expect more than a few filings between now
and the October 7th report from CSRIC on Part 11 national EAS
recommendations and CAP implementation.
Best advice: don't panic.
More to come!
More detailed
info and Q&A here.
Back to the top
SEPTEMBER
- 9/30/10
-
FEMA made it official today - they
adopted CAP 1.2 ...
the
announcement is located here. This, however does not start the
"clock." According to FEMA, that is in the FCC's court now.
FEMA's goal is to "reach as many
people as possible over as many communications devices as possible, such
as radio, television, mobile phones, personal computers and other
communications devices."
Meanwhile, FCC Commissioner
Robert McDowell told the NAB Show that it would be
reasonable to extend the 180-day
clock. According to reports, McDowell said "he would support extending the 180 days
but can’t guarantee it. He stated that it’s up to the FCC chairman’s
office. A manufacturer asked if he should start producing
equipment. He was told to ask the chairman’s office for clarification
on when the 180 days actually starts, and everyone was told to direct
their concerns to FCC."
BDR Comments: Some sanity from the FCC? Who'd a thunk? Let's hope that
McDowell's comments prove true.
From what can be learned, there are some good people at FEMA working
hard to provide a foundation for better information distribution. Of
course, the major disconnect is not at FEMA this time - it is the lack
of local and state coordination in many areas, along with official
reluctance to provide information to EAS participants. Coupled with the
lack of enthusiasm for EAS by broadcast programmers and managers, the
system is still far from achieving its potential - and not much is being
done to solve the key problems.
-
9/28/10 -
Hot on the heels of the NAB report that
people want FM radio in their mobile devices, the Consumer Electronics
Association has a survey that shows quite the opposite view:
the CEA study
FM Tuners for Cell Phones –
Measuring Consumer Interest
says over 2/3 have no interest in FM in
their cellphones and over 3/4 do not support a government mandate to
force the inclusion of FM tuners.
The NAB's study, by Harris Interactive,
is here
BDR Comments: We all know studies can be shaped by the questions. So,
it is quite possible each of these surveys "led" the respondents just a
bit. Maybe? And, while there might be some benefit to having FM tuners
in cellphones, do we really need another government mandate? And
how does this help AM stations - aside from annoying people trying to
listen to FM despite reception issues?
-
9/24/10 -
An interesting conversation with
FEMA folks confirms
that they are awaiting on the Press Release to announce they are
officially adopting the CAP V
1.2 and the EAS to CAP and EAS to IPAWS protocols. FEMA intends
to be finished before the end of September, tossing the ball to the
FCC.
BDR Comments: It was interesting to learn that there will be no
mention of the "180-day clock" in the Press Release, as FEMA does not
start nor control that. They are aware that there has been a large
outpouring of protest to the FCC seeking to delay the start of the
clock. As previously mentioned, manufacturers and stations are unhappy
if they are forced to to design, develop, manufacture, budget,
purchase, and install everything in six months. Do expect there will
be a lot more pressure at the FCC to find a remedy to this mess.
On another front, FEMA is
now planning another Alaska-only EAN test for the EAS system,
likely January 26, 2011, with the National Test pushed back to Q4 ...
or perhaps later.
BDR Comments: Will there ever be any sort of report or summary of
the last Alaska test? This is not certain, but FEMA has heard the call
for some information, and seems interested in finding a way to let
everyone know what was good and what went wrong bad in that test. The
delay in doing a second test in Alaska is puzzling, but sometimes
things move slowly in DC.
-
9/24/10 -
Radio One is notified by the SEC that
they again risk delisting on the NASDAQ board because the stock closed
under $1.00 for 30 consecutive days again.
-
9/23/10 -
As expected, the
FCC voted to allow more and
higher powered unlicensed transmitters in the "White Space" in
the television band. The FCC goal is to promote more Internet
penetration across the country.
The Rules now specify that new devices must contain geo-location and
the ability to cross-reference the database of licensed stations in
order to prevent interference. A requirement for "sensing" existing
transmitters was made voluntary.
Additionally, the FCC set aside specific channels in each market for
wireless microphones. Some more info is
here.
The NAB says it is looking at the proposed Rules to ensure no
interference will be caused to TV stations. As the technical
specifications are released, we may know how much protection there is.
-
9/20/10 -
The FCC announced this week that LPTVs,
translators and Class A stations, will be expected to transition to
Digital by a hard deadline in 2012.
BDR Comments:
That should bring an end to the so-called "Franken FMs" .. LPTV
stations that are essentially nothing but an analog FM signal at 87.9
MHz. It was a loophole that has needed closing for a long time.
-
9/16/10 -
Microsoft has released the
Internet Explorer 9 beta
for download. You can see information about it if you
click here.
However, before you go, note that it appears
IE9 does not support
Windows XP.
-
9/15/10 -
A combined FCC License database is
now on line and searchable at
http://fcc.gov/licenseview
Labeled "beta" in the consolidation of data, the FCC says License View
combines the CDBS, IBFS, ELS, ULS, and COALS on one site. Entering a
facility number, Call Sign, or corporate name should bring up all
associated licenses.
BDR Comments: Our initial reaction is that this could become a useful tool, but
there are, perhaps as expected, a number of errors and License View
does not yet return all station data (power, location, etc), and the
search is rather coarse, but it could be the start of a useful tool.
According to some of those who have worked on it, more is coming.
-
9/13/10 -
Copper
thefts continue to bedevil stations around the country. This
time it was KKXX in Paradise/Chico, CA.
Reports indicate 22,000 feet of #10 copper wire was taken. Sheriff's
deputies estimate the loss at $4400-6600.
Of course, as broadcasters know, replacing a ground system can cost
$100,000 or more. This is yet
another call to stations to step their security on transmitter
sites, especially those remote DAs out in the countryside!
-
9/10/10 -
If you have the ARCO/BP spot that
contain the fake EAS tones, you may wish to know that
the agency handling the spot
has responded to at least one station's request (in Seattle) to
approved running alternative
ARCO/BP spots. (Update: By the end of the week, the spots
had been pulled officially.)
-
9/9/10 -
FEMA has
delayed the National EAS Test
to the end of 2011. At NAB, the initial FEMA announced plan was to do
the National Test early in 2011.
A FEMA representative said this week that they felt there was still a
lot to do before trying to schedule a National Test based on the
lessons learned in Alaska early this year.
Oddly, FEMA still intends to push the "button" to start the
"180-day Clock" by officially adopting the CAP standards later this month. They
are not doing anyone a service by starting the clock when they are
already so far behind on organizing the first National EAS Test. It
seems like there should be some more light on what exactly is going on
at FEMA.
-
9/8/10
-
Reports came in from all over
about a commercial spot for
ARCO/BP that was running in multiple markets. The spot includes
the words "This is a test" and
a partial set of EAS tones. An mp3 of
the spot is here.
There are two concerns here. First, some EAS receivers are "opening
up" with the tones, which appear to be the EOM from a station in the
Tampa, FL area. Most of the reports indicate TFT receivers are being
affected. (The tones are somewhat frequency shifted, so not all EAS
receivers will decode them.)
Secondly, there is an FCC Rule against broadcasting false EAS
signals.
(Section 11.45
Prohibition of false or deceptive EAS transmissions.
No person may transmit or cause to transmit the EAS codes or
Attention Signal, or a recording or simulation thereof, in any
circumstance other than in an actual National, State or Local Area
emergency or authorized test of the EAS. Broadcast station licensees
should also refer to Section 73.1217 of this chapter.)
BDR Comments:
While one might have thought the NAB or the FCC would have already
called BP and requested the spots be altered or stopped, we might
wonder if the FCC response will be more along the lines of having the
EB issue fines against stations. If we hear about any FCC action or
notice, it will be posted here. In the meantime, station management
should at least be alerted (pun possibly intended) to the potential
for fines.
-
9/8/10 -
This has not been a good year for
broadcasters in terms of fire
damage. The latest is in
Burton (Flint), MI,
where WCRL and WCRZ and four other stations were knocked off the air
early this morning due to a fire at the studio site.
The stations, which had been operating on generator power for about 36
hours due to local storm damage, reported
the generator had failed just before the fire was noticed.
BDR Comments:
Sadly, just because the generator is on does not mean all is well.
A later report suggested that the fire may have started when a gas
leak was ignited by the generator. It is a good thing there was a live person on site - otherwise it could have
been a complete loss.
-
9/2/10 -
Long time Ohio engineer
Bill Weisinger is in
the Maplewood Care Center in Streetsboro, OH battling cancer. A
well-known engineer, Bill went to the doctor in June and never made it
back home. If you know Bill - or just want to send greetings to him
during this difficult time - you can go to
www.getwellbill.com and leave
your message for him; he reads them regularly.
-
9/1/10 -
A New Jersey
personal injury law firm
has begun seeking leads from people who have
"been forced to purchase
technology that does not work as claimed."
According to
the firm's website, the automakers are aware of the problem but
most, like BMW, have done little more than sent out Service Bulletins
noting the problem, but saying "there was
no retrofit or procedure
available" to correct matters.
The lawyers say they are
investigating such complaints as:
- Radio receiver bumping station from HD
to analog mode;
- Echo sound heard when the radio
switches between HD and analog modes;
- Crackling or static sound when HD mode
is inactive;
- Insufficient numbers of HD Radio
stations;
- Loss of signal while driving in
valleys or between high buildings;
- Signal disruption for environmental
conditions; and
- Adjacent channel interference.
-
9/1/10 -
The NAB has joined in an effort to
seek government action to
mandate FM chips in all cell phones.
Of course, a part of this effort is in the hope is it will promote
more listening for FM, But there does seem to be some value in having
another source for emergency information, given that the
cell phone companies have, but
do not use, a text warning capability.
There is more to say on this issue. Please
check out my editorial.
Back to the top
AUGUST
-
8/28/10 -
KCBQ and staff were honored with a monument and plaque at the
former transmitter site in Santee, California. In addition to
many who worked at KCBQ
over the years, the mayor of Santee appeared to show his and the
city's support, as well.
The San Diego market
station, which had pulled as much as a 60 share in the "Golden Days"
of rock and roll between 1958 and 1978, has long since been sold,
changed formats, and moved to another location (the old site now hosts
a shopping center, the five-foot-plus monument is located alongside
the road by the Kohl's and Lowe's stores).
The ceremony,
orchestrated at 11:70 AM (12:10 PM), was a flashback to one of the
station's efforts to brand the 1170 dial position into the minds of
listeners. The monument contains a
picture of the station
in its glory days, as well as a
listing of the staffers
over the years.
BDR Comments:
Although the Internet contains "tribute sites" for many radio
stations that no longer are around it is unusual for cities and
politicians to permit the installation of a monument like this one.
Yet, for many who worked there or listened to the station, the sounds
are still fresh in their heads.
The 300-400 people who showed up to see the monument unveiled on the
site of the former monster station's facility demonstrated the strong
and long-lasting bond that is created with listeners by a radio
station that reaches into the community to touch people's lives.
(PS... yes, we know we spelled it wrong on the Newsletter. Please
repeat this one after me: K - C - B -
Q!)
-
8/25/10 -The
FCC has released news of a couple of fines this week that, if nothing
else, offer a few things for stations and engineers to put on their
list to "check" for compliance.
For example, a station in Santa Monica, CA was cited for
not monitoring the proper
stations for EAS purposes. KCRU had apparently changed from the
assigned stations, but never checked with the state and local
coordinating committees. In another case, a contest was ruled bad
because the station, WWEG(FM) had picked a
winner before the stated end
of the contest - and sure enough, a listener showed up and
after not being allowed to enter the contest, filed a compaint with
the FCC.
The upshot: a $4000 fine. Finally,
WWWK pulled an $8500 fine for
not having the Main Studio
manned during business hours and EAS gear that did not work.
BDR Comments:
By the way, did you know the radio license renewal cycle starts
again next year. Time now to double and triple check station records,
the Public File, etc., so there are no "surprises" as you go through
the renewal process (VA, WV, MD and DC get first try in June!). The
FCC reports Public File issues
continue to be the biggest problems, especially the quarterly Issues
and Programs listing.
-
8/19/10 -
Jerry Campbell was apparently electrocuted while working on a
transmitter in Greenville, MS. According to reports,
Campbell,
73, of Oxford, MS died around noon while working at repairing the
WDMS transmitter that had failed earlier in the morning.
BDR Comments:
It was reported that Campbell was not alone nor tired. According to
a report from another engineer, he had taken a break to think about
the problem and apparently got "out of sync" with the transmitter's
energized condition. Returning to the problem, he apparently reached
to a component that was "hot" and suffered the fatal shock.
Lesson: Even when you have someone on hand, think twice about whether
or not there is high voltage BEFORE you extend your hand (the other
one is in your pocket, right?)
-
8/16/10 -
KRKO is in the midst of recovering from vandalism. They
have restored their "missing" two towers
(picture), knocked down in the middle of the night. (The
Story here)
BDR Comments:
This has been a long, exhausting fight for the station. As with the
"birds issue" certain groups have used the courts to make things very
difficult for what is essentially a small business. Given the
vandalism problems in recent years, stations like KRKO and
WCSZ have a real hard time. Fortunately, KRKO was able to
stay on the air throughout, but WCSZ was not. Nevertheless, with or without
insurance, these are costly affairs.
-
8/12/10 -
On this date in 1960, 50 years ago,
Echo 1 was launched.
The first two-way, live communications satellite made its way up
to 1000 miles above the Earth and the opened the era of truly global
communication.
The 100 foot giant metallic balloon - or "satelloon" - was the means
for the first voice communication by satellite, as well as the first
coast-to-coast phone call by satellite.
-
8/12/10 -
George Marti was honored by the Texas Association of
Broadcasters with their
Lifetime Achievement Award.
BDR Comments:
Although perhaps not the first to explore the technology, George
Marti made it accessible to virtually any station, turning the Remote
Pickup Transmitter (RPU) into such a common item that most people
simply call them "Martis" ... as in "Take one of the Martis out to the
big remote at 2PM." Marti also practiced "giving back" to the
community.
-
8/9/10 -
The BDR
celebrates its First Anniversary! ...
-
8/6/10 -
Orban processors will continue to be manufactured by the
company now based in Arizona. CRL, Inc was put up for sale earlier
this year, but now a financial agreement with Bob Orban has apparently
kept the majority owners, the Brentlinger family, in place.
The company has suffered along with many during the current economic
slowdown and the woes of the large consolidators. It was about ten
years ago that it combined Ron Jones' Circuit Research Labs and Bob
Orban's eponymous company, acquiring the latter from Harmon
International. Since then it acquired Autogram, a console
manufacturer. The company hopes this new arrangement will strengthen
the the company and allow it to continue selling it popular processors
to the radio and television industries, both in the U.S. and abroad.
-
8/5/10 -
WWVA,made it back up by 10:30PM with 5
kW into a 50-foot tower stub of the East tower and some wire strung
between the East and Central towers. (For those who desire to know
such things, this led to an input Z of 5 -j25 Ohms.)
A video "tour" of the downed towers is
here. More pictures
of the destruction are
here. Sadly, they were on the last two days of a complete
repainting - talk about timing...
-
8/4/10 -
WWVA, Wheeling, WV was knocked off the
air when all three of its towers were all
knocked down in a storm, leaving nothing available to use as an
emergency tower for a non-directional signal.
Engineers for the 50 kW Clear Channel station were hoping to get at
least a temporary signal back on the air by tomorrow (Thursday)
afternoon. Complicating matters: initial site access was blocked by
trees that were blown down.
A TV report can be found
here.
Back to the top
JULY
-
7/27/10 -
Univision Radio pays a $1 million fine
and agrees to stop "pay for play" with piles of cash bribes being sent
around to get certain records played.
The FCC had charged that
Univision Services and Univision Radio were involved in a
"conspiracy" to commit mail fraud, the result of the
payments for airplay.
Univision Services pled guilty in Federal Court in CA, while Univision
Radio admitted to the FCC that several of their PDs got money.
It's funny how payola keeps popping back up in the industry, over
and over. On the other hand, with more automation and fewer live
personalities, some of the big companies apparently figure a few
well-placed packets of money is an easy way to influence playlists.
This may be one time the Enforcement Bureau got it right.
-
7/26/10 -
The Library of Congress, which oversees copyright laws,
ruled that Apple cannot
prevent iPhone users from
"jailbreaking" their
iPhones - in other words, adding software and applications that Apple
has not provided nor approved.
While only about 8% of iPhone users try to open up their iPhones to
outside software, according to some estimates, there are a significant
number of programmers unhappy with Apple's total control of what users
can install. They hope to be able to make some serious money from
dissatisfied Apple users. Apple, for its part, insists users who do
not jailbreak get better, less trouble-free operation with their
phones.
This could be a significant crack in the Apple "closed system" of
products and software. On the other hand, many people are quite
willing to pay a premium to Apple's iStore to ensure they get quality
software that works as advertised.
-
7/21/10 -
KNIM-AM/FM, Maryville, MO was knocked off the air this past
weekend due to a storm. The storm snapped their 70-foot STL tower
around 3AM.
Using a backup tower just recently built, the FM was able to get back
up, but the loss of the STL signal kept the AM silent until a link
could be set up.
-
7/21/10 -
A reader brought to our attention a Bill
slowly working its way through Congress that may be worth your
attention, too.
H.R. 2067 (and
companion S. 1580) are called the
"Protecting America's Workers Act" Among other
things, it is designed to expand OSHA to all government employees. The
Act also provides protections for whistleblowers. But the part that
the reader mention to us as most worrying was wording that assumes
"that company managers discourage a safe working environment, that
managers are always opposed to any reports of worker injuries or
unsafe conditions, that managers have to be told that they can't
punish workers who participate in safety inspections, etc, etc, etc"
In other words, OSHA will be pressuring workers to file complaints so
they can issue citations.
How this might affect broadcasters is as yet unknown, but given
the fixation of some bureaucrats with RFR and other workplace hazards
- including noise levels - you may wish to be familiar with the
legislation.
Our correspondent writes: "I see this legislation as a measure
that fosters an "us versus them" mentality in the workplace and
creates a bigger OSHA bureaucracy where none is needed. ... Our
broadcasters are not sweatshops in Bangkok and we're not the Triangle
Dress Factory but it seems like the government thinks so."
As with much legislation, this may just languish and die in this
Congress. But there are some implications here of which broadcasters
should be aware, so they are not taken by surprise if this Bill starts
moving. (The last recent action was in late April.)
-
7/21/10 -
Dell Computers has announced that malware was found on some of
its server motherboards. The
PowerEdge R410 (and R310 and
R510 and T410) Rack server
apparently has spyware embedded. More
information here.
-
7/19/10 -
The FCC has published its Public Notice
to begin an inquiry into data
collection and use. The Docket Number is 10-103.
Using three Public Notices, the FCC has indicated they want to "... improve the way the Commission
collects, uses and disseminates data," so that they can "eliminate
unnecessary data collection while ensuring that the FCC has the
information needed for sound analysis and policy making."
Broadcasters are invited to
read the Public Notice and comment between now and August 13th.
The individual bureau notices (and a spreadsheet of the data under
review at the Media Bureau) are
available here.
-
7/13/10 -
A three-judge panel from the
US Second Court of Appeals
ruled against the FCC in New York today calling the FCC's
indecency policies "unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling
effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here."
The challenge came from the major broadcast networks, who claimed the
"no-tolerance" enforcement of one-time or so-called "fleeting"
expletives was unfair and violated their rights under the First
Amendment.
The FCC's
viewpoint is here.
While any number of college station announcers were "cheering" the
ability to say anything on the air, the reality is not quite so much
that the barn door is now open, as that the FCC will be forced to take
another look at the issue of how and what content they can regulate.
Look for this one to generate a lot of noise, heat, and lawyers'
fees. And, yes, Congress will likely be highly visible in the process.
-
7/12/10 -
Perhaps bowing to the marketplace - and
the large number of users that bought Vista computers and downgraded
to XP, Microsoft has announced that their
support for downgrading Vista
or Windows 7 to XP Pro has been extended until 2020.
Users - and new sales of XP Pro will end in October 2010 - will need
to update to the XP Service Pack 3, but it would appear that security
and other patches will continue to be available for quite a while to
come - making Windows XP one of the longest-lived versions of the
operating system.
Some more information that may help clarify things can be
found here. Another article
is here.
To find out what Service Pack you should have,
try this link.
-
7/9/10 -
The inventor of the Audimax and Volumax,
among other technology,
Emil Torick, passed
away on June 19th. The former CBS Labs head was 78.
-
7/8/10 -
National Public Radio has decided to
change its name to just NPR.
In jettisoning the full name it has used since the 1971 start, NPR
quietly has
affirmed a change that has been underway for some time now -
taking its news, information, and music programs to other platforms,
including the Internet.
NPR's head, Vivian Schiller calls it making NPR "more modern and
streamlined." Last month, Schiller told an audience that
broadcast listenership was going to be replaced by Internet delivered
radio in the next five to ten years, and that NPR wanted to position
itself now to take advantage of the coming changes.
Not all affiliates of NPR - which supply something like $62 million of
the NPR's $154 million budget - are happy with the national
organization using their money to bypass broadcasters.
-
7/5/10 -
The well-known engineering firm Hammett
and Edison has been acquired by Pacific Venture Investments, led by
CEO Gary Lawrence.
The firm, founded in 1952, will continue to operate under the name Hammett and Edison.
Back to the top
JUNE
-
6/22/10 -
Planning on going to the
Fall NAB Radio Show? The
NAB and the RAB (Radio Advertising Bureau) are combining to put on
this year's show. Reports seem to indicate that exhibitors will be
limited to groups of tables. This show is stacking up to be different
from previous shows, both in terms of the exhibitors and sessions.
-
6/15/10 -
Commentators on the FCC's efforts to
change Part 11 (EAS Rules) via Docket 04-296 seem to be lining up
on asking for more time than
180s days to update the system once FEMA and PSHSB get their
final proposals published.
Comments can be found here
Reasons range from the need for manufacturers to test and ensure their
systems work before shipping, for stations needing to budget for the
purchase, for government agencies needing time for their fiscal years,
and for needed training.
One aspect that might change the timing would be if the Federal
Government actually paid for and supplied the new equipment. However,
manufacturers still say that time will be needed to do it correctly.
On another issue, there were a number of comments regarding foreign
languages and the need for some mechanism to meet that need.
-
6/16/10 -
Curious as to what the NAB Radio Board
is working on? A recent information indicates their
primary focus is on the Performance Tax and what some call the latest
FCC "bandwidth grab." Additionally, the NAB Press Releases show
interest in the how to handle the "Lowest Unit Charge" for political
advertising, as well as the effects of LPFM on the membership and
efforts to include FM radios in cell phones.
At their recent meeting (June 15 & 16), Caroline Beasley (Beasley
Broadcasting) was voted Chair of the Radio Board; Don Benson of
Lincoln Financial is the new Vice-Chair.
-
6/15/10 -
Miss the deadline to check and retire
those 700 MHz microphones? The Enforcement Bureau has not forgotten.
They issued an Enforcement Advisory last week, reiterating that
wireless microphones are no longer permitted on the 700 MHz band.
Here are links to the text:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-1053A1.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-1053A1.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-1053A1.txt
-
6/11/10 -
At a Community Radio Conference in St.
Paul, MN yesterday, FCC Commissioner Mignon
Clyburn advocated possibly
using TV channels 5 & 6 for Radio - including LPFM, AM and
other non-commercial users.
Clyburn said that low VHF has proven to be less than effective for
digital television. She said that it is worthwhile for the Commission
to "take a serious look" at whether or not "channels 5 and 6 may be a
good home" for radio services.
-
6/10/10 -
The FCC held
a conference today regarding
the status of EAS and CAP, and the broadband initiatives. The
event was streamed live, and will be available on the FCC's site.
-
6/3/10 -
The FCC reminds stations that
wireless microphones in the
700 MHz band must be retuned or replaced by the end of next
week.
The Public Notice of
the
FCC
Order to clear 700 MHz, and ban wireless microphones there
as of June 12th, includes a list of microphones affected.
-
6/2/10 -
Bob
Doll passed away yesterday at the age of 77.
-
6/2/10 -
In recent weeks, many of the major
broadcast companies that filed Chapter 11 over the past year have
started to come out of the process. In most cases, they have
eliminated a lot of debt, especially shareholder equity, and kept the
banks and investment funds more or less "happy."
As June begins, NextMedia's
reorganization plan is in place, and, as with other companies, appears
back to "business as usual." Unfortunately, in most
cases, the new "usual" often means very few jobs on the programming side, and increased
pressures on sales and tech. Perhaps the one bright side for many
stations is the political windfall (election) due later this year is
stacking up to be a big one, with many contentious races. Perhaps some
rehiring will happen.
-
6/1/10 -
Jerry Lee, owner of WBEB, Philadelphia,
has decided to auction off an
Aston Martin Lagonda DB5 that he purchased back in 1969 from
the producers of the James Bond (007) movies Goldfinger and
Thunderball.
The car, bought for $12,000, is expected to bring as much as $5
Million for a the Jerry Lee Foundation. Sale date is October 27th, if
you want to bid on it. (RM Auctions/Sotheby's are the agencies
involved.)
Back to the top
MAY
-
5/25/10 -
According to an announcement today,
Emmis Communications
Corporation has an agreement
to be taken private by Chairman Jeff Smulyan and his company JS
Acquisition, LLC.
The money is supposed to come through
affiliate Alden Global Capital, under the agreement. Current
stockholders will received $2.40 a share, preferred stockholders will
have a different transaction.
(UPDATE: In September, it was announced that this deal had fallen
through. One thought was that the cash burn rate was too high for the
potential investors.)
-
5/25/10 -
The FCC has opened another inquiry - to
look into the media ownership Rules. In its
fifth "quadrennial" review of the Broadcast Ownership Rules,
the FCC is asking for comments on various aspects, including ownership
caps and "localism," was well as whether to measure the "satisfaction"
level of "local end users."
-
5/25/10 -
EAS changes continue to slowly shuffle
down the federal pipeline. At a meeting on April 13th, the
OASIS (Organization
for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) Emergency
Management Technical
Committee
approved CAP Version 1.2
as a Committee Specification Draft, and voting on adoption has begun.
Next, the OASIS standard is expected to be approved sometime after
June 30th, at which point formal testing will begin, possibly in July,
at the earliest. Depending upon how the testing shakes out, FEMA still
intends to announce IPAWS adoption of CAP V 1.2 later this year. More
information is available here and
here.
-
5/21/10 -
Citadel Communications is getting closer to emerging from
bankruptcy. The judge accepted the reorganization plan data and
projections of the current management, valuing the company at around
$2 Billion. It would appear current management will continue.
On the other hand, pending any successful appeals or other actions,
common shareholders will be left with ... nothing. (Citadel stock had
been on a slow steady drift downward since 2003, and although trading
at about four cents recently, there is no value - those Disney
shareholders who got and held Citadel stock are holding an empty
sack.)
The 165 FM and 58 AM stations in 27 states and 50 markets will have
creditor relief, but at lot of jobs appear to be gone for good.
-
5/20/10 -
Fritz Sennheiser,
founder of the famous microphone and headset company, died on May 17th
at 98.
-
5/20/10 -
A complaint to the FCC regarding
HD interference. In Los
Angeles, Willie Davis alleges that the KRTH (101.1) digital signal is
causing
"destructive interference" to KATY (101.3). KATY has been among
those stations complaining for the past three or four years about
adjacent channel problems, especially with grandfathered super-power
FMs.
-
5/17/10 -
The NAB and six other organizations have
submitted a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the FCC with recommendations
for the protection of
migratory birds as part of its Antenna Structure Registration (ASR)
process.
-
5/13/10 -
Microsoft announces
Office 2010. The new
features include an Internet-based interface, so the software and
files can reside "in the cloud." How businesses will react to the
potential legal issues of having material reside on someone else's
server is not yet clear. However, the applications can still be loaded
on individual computers.
-
5/12/10 -
Intelsat announced that they had
lost control of Galaxy 15,
apparently after a solar storm. It is due to cross paths with AMC 11
later this month, although officials say there should be little or no
interference with AMC 11 services.
-
5/3/10 -
Flooding in the South has crippled many stations. WSM's radio
studios and the WTVF-TV
newsroom were rapidly inundated with water. A rough radio studio
was set up at the WSM transmitter site.
Other stations that have been off for some time during the flood
include: WQSV-790 Ashland City, WMGC-810 Murfreesboro, WYFN-980
Nashville, WCRT-1160 Nashville, WNQM-1300, and WVOL-1470 Nashville,
plus WWCR (a shortwave station). The river was said to have crested
finally on Tuesday afternoon the 4th.
At the Opryland Hotel and shopping mall
Nashville Public Radio was down for about a day, after a mud slide
took down power lines and then the generator failed. The road had to
be cleared for the repair folks to gain access.
Back to the top
APRIL
-
4/26/10 -
KMBC became the latest station to
succumb to copper thieves.
As the price of copper resumes its move back up to the mid-$3 range,
the bad guys are back at it, attacking any exposed copper at
transmission sites.
In
KMBC's case, it was the cooling system for their transmitter that
got cut and a large section of two-inch tubing was stolen. In addition
to the loss of all the coolant, damage estimates range from $20,000 to
$100,000. While repairs are made, cable customers were mostly still
able to receive the station,
-
4/26/10 -
The FCC has some plans to
update the Part 11 (EAS) Rules
and how it is handled.
If you
want to comment, you are encouraged to do so. Comments to the FCC
are due by May 17, 2010, and reply comments are due by June 14, 2010.
-
4/23/10 -
FEMA Estimates
CAP adoption date.
According to DHS Assistant Administrator Damon Penn, FEMA estimates
the CAP adoption date, which would
start the 180-day clock
for broadcasters to buy CAP equipment, will be in "September of 2010”.
-
4/20/10 -
The FCC has been busy! In addition to
the current request for comments on fixing Part 11 (EAS) and about the
proposed CLS (Consolidated Licensing System), the FCC is now proposing
a Rulemaking to make changes
to the Part 17 (Tower construction, lighting, and marking)
Rules. You can read the
Public Notice here. It looks like some good changes and
clarifications are proposed - and you can tell the FCC what you think!
-
4/19/10 -
While we were at NAB, the FCC finally
released the new Form 323 -
the bi-annual Ownership Reports. Due by July 8th, stations
should report ownership as of November 1, 2009. The
Public Notice is here
-
4/15/10 -
The FCC often provides a
little "gift" to the broadcasters at each
convention. It seems this spring it is the existence of a Petition for
Rulemaking to allow many AM stations to begin PSA operation at 5 AM.
(Public Notice given on March 27.)
-
4/12/10 -
NAB. The NAB
welcomed some 88,000 attendees to the Spring Show (vs. 82k
reported last year). More details
here.
-
4/7/10 -
A
bomb threat was
received at the FCC building, which was was emptied this morning.
Among other events, the CLS workshop was cancelled, to be rescheduled
for another day.
-
4/2/10 -
Don Jones, long-time owner of RF Specialties of Texas in
Amarillo has announced his retirement. Don is selling his company to
Dan Sessler right after NAB.
Back to the top
MARCH
-
3/31/10 -
The
FCC has initiated
another outreach for comments. This time it is for
updating their licensing
system, including the CDBS - which contains a lot of
information, but is not always easy to navigate, depending upon what
information you need.
The CLS - the Consolidated
Licensing System - is currently under development to combine
the CDBS, ASR, ULS, IBFS, ELS, and the COALS. The FCC is asking for
comments on its
"Reboot" site. If you have ideas on how to make the system easier
to navigate and provide information needed, you can comment right
there, online.
-
3/31/10 -
According to the Milwaukee Journal, a
radio station operated by students at the University of Wisconsin - Parkside was
shut down by the FCC for operating without a license.
"WIPZ" apparently had been broadcasting an unlicensed low-powered
signal for nearly 20 years, but landed on the FCC's radar this year
after moving its location and increasing power.
-
3/15/10 -
At the recent Great Lakes Broadcast
Conference, Ed Trombley was awarded the Carl E. Lee Radio Engineering
Award for 2010.
Trombley, a well-known
and well-liked Field Engineer for Munn-Reese, Inc in Coldwater, MI,
has been involved in solving problems and building beautiful
facilities for some 30 years. He is also a collector of broadcast gear
and history, which he often uses to help stations and engineers - and
often entertains them in the process.
-
3/15/10 -
Information released on Friday indicates the FCC is planning to
implement a new broadband
policy. Included is taking back about 108 MHz of spectrum from
broadcasters to give to the wireless Internet industry, saying that
wideband Internet everywhere is their goal.
FCC Chairman Genachowski was further reported to be working on making
such wireless Internet free or at least discounted everywhere.
The way the FCC gains control over the Internet is said to be by
declaring it as a part of there telecom regulation mandate.
Another part of the initiative may include an attempt to get
broadcasters, especially TV stations to consolidate transmitter
facilities, freeing more spectrum to be "auctioned."
-
3/11/10 -
More financial news: Entercom has been involved with creditor
restructuring. No bankruptcy on the horizon at this time, but stricter
terms on keeping debt in check. Also, Sirius-XM is a crossroad: they
needed to finish today about $1.00 per share to prevent delisting on
Nasdaq. They did not.
Talk of Sirius seeking credit debt swaps and/or a reverse stock split
is appearing in many of the financial publications and web sites.
-
3/10/10 -
Congress moves introduce the
"FCC Commissioners' Technical
Resource Act"; Senate Bill S.2881"
- and a similar Bill in the House of
Representatives. This would
authorize an engineering staff person for each of the five FCC
commissioners.
The SBE is quite enthused about this. Will the Commissioners
actually use this to add an engineer? A good question, since they have
never been prohibited from doing so in the past.
-
3/1/10 -
WJFK was scheduled to become
the first FM station to run
four HD channels at -14 dBc, and increase of 6 dB over the
digital carriers in use to this point. With WFAN, WJZ-FM, and WIP from
New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia, WJFK installed a new
transmitter over the past week. Since all three sub-channels are
from out of town, no one can say they are just duplicating the locals.
-
3/1/10 - The
NAB announced today that Telos Systems founder
Steve Church will receive the
Radio Engineering Achievement Award during the NAB Engineering
luncheon in April. Credited with major advances in digital audio
technology, Church's inventions, such as the Telos 10 telephone hybrid
and its many successors, have changed broadcasting - from making
telephone talk show audio much better to IP codecs that have moved
programs out into the field all over the world.
-
3/1/10 - In
yet another broadcast-related, pre-packaged bankruptcy,
Regent Communications filed
for Chapter 11. Acccording to Reuters, $87 million in debt will
be erased by the restructuring. While common stockholders will not be
totally wiped out - they get just under 13% of the company - majority
control will go to Oaktree Capital Management.
Back to the top
FEBRUARY
-
2/25/10 -
The FCC has
extended the deadline for commenting on the proposed EAS Rule
changes. Comments are accepted until March 15th, reply comments until
April 13th.
From last week:
The FCC has issued a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
regarding national EAS testing. Comments are invited, dealing with
issues such as TV captioning, foreign languages, and how the EAN
should be handled. Now, if only the EB could learn what "testing"
means!
-
2/25/10 -
The FCC has also been proposing
changes in the ex-parte processes - which relates to communication
with the Commission and Staff on matters under consideration.
-
2/23/10 -
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters
(CAB) has announced that it will shut down, a victim of differing
goals - largely the gap between TV and cable - who pays whom. The
80-year-old
CAB will be gone by June 1st. One possibility: a new
organization to serve the radio industry alone. Anyone here
remember the NAFMB?
-
2/19/10 -
If the financial gyrations of so many
broadcast companies were not enough to make your head spin, there is
apparently now a class action law suit being pursued against Cumulus.
Said to be filed on behalf of a former salesman in San Francisco, the
lawyers are now seeking additional participants. What remains to be
seen is how many of the things the corporations did to cut staff and
expenses may be found to have violated employment law.
-
2/18/10 -
It is getting hard to keep up with all
the financial gyrations in the industry. Chapter 11 filings continue
and the latest "adjustment" is NextMedia. Their December bankruptcy
now has an "exit plan." Common stockholders are still left out,
although Management has arranged to stay on, and receive about
one-seventh of the new common stock. Industry stabilization is still
in the future.
-
2/17/10 -
WHLR, Lavonia, GA, which had its tower collapse on January 29th,
returned to the air with an assist from WRAF, Toccoa Falls College.
They are using the WRAF backup transmitter. Police investigation of
the 284-foot tower collapse continues.
Police
have been asked to look into what is described as a
"deliberately cut" guy wire. No weather related factors seem
to be involved.
-
2/11/10 -
This has been a real "weather" couple of
weeks! With all kinds of snow almost across the country - and more
than a few broken records. Here is a picture
at the tower base of KTIC-FM, thanks to Rod Zeigler. (As he said
"I never did find the 1000 gallon propane tank out there. I suppose it
will show up in the spring sometime.") Just before, we had a real rash
of
tower failures - both due to weather as well as vandalism. Early
2010 has not been good for broadcasters.
-
2/10/10 -
Ibiquity "adjusts" theIR fee for installing digital exciters on
broadcast stations. A contract now costs $10,500, with a one-year
payment option at $2,000 more (we'll let you calculate the interest
percentage).
-
2/10/10 -
ANOTHER CHAPTER 11 - Penton Media, publisher of over 100
titles, including Radio Magazine, has filed a "pre-packaged" Chapter
11 Reorganization Plan. The goal is elimination of some $270 million
in debt.
Penton's statement is here.
-
2/4/10 -
PHONE FINES - The
FCC issued fines to WSKQ-FM,
New York ($16k) and WAAW,
Williston, SC ($4k).
WSKQ, owned by Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc., has now been tagged
twice for failure to get permission before broadcasting a phone call
or recording a phone call for broadcast. The station tried to weasel
around the Rules by hiring an "independent contractor" to
make the calls. The FCC rather pointedly noted this was not legal and,
in paragraph
10, advises the licensee that a repetition will bring a very large
fine.
WAAW, owned by Rejoynetwork, was fined for allowing staff members to call
local airport officials and put them on the air - but again,
without proper permission.
The lesson here: it is no longer the free-wheeling 70's. Section
73.1206 of the Rules should be studied and understood by all air
personnel.
-
2/4/10 - CHAPTER
11 FOR CITADEL - Citadel
Broadcasting filed their reorganization
plan today. The 3rd largest broadcast consolidator in the US (over
220 stations) hopes to wipe out $1.4 Billion in debt. (It still leaves
$762.5 million.) The largely pre-negotiated bankruptcy
pretty much wipes out existing common stock shareholders, and gives
90% of the equity to the senior lenders.
According to the Wall Street Journal,
there is a net change in ownership, requiring FCC permission for the
plan to take effect.
-
2/3/10 -
IBOC POWER INCREASE - The FCC
has issued an Order
permitting an increase in FM digital power.
The Media Bureau
action means most FM stations can increase their digital
carriers by 6 dB (fourfold) immediately, and can apply for up to
10 dB of increase, to 10% of the analog carrier power.
Back to the top
JANUARY
-
1/24/10 -
JAMES QUELLO - The
passing of James
Quello is interesting in that it brings to mind the esteem many
had for the man, along with his practical experience as a broadcaster,
something clearly lacking in the current Commission.
-
1/21/10 -
CHAPTER 11 FOR AIR AMERICA - The
Air America radio network pulled the plug again. Filing for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the network is running recorded programming
until Monday evening, when the net goes dark.
Air America's statement.
NY Times article
Washington
Post article
Air America, home to Al Franken, Rachel Maddow, and others, had
previously filed for Chapter 11 in October 2006; it was sold for $4.25
million at the start of 2007.
-
1/21/10 -
LA STORY - The
broadcasters in LA are scrambling
to stay on the air during a tremendous downpour, mudslides, and
lack of access to Mt. Wilson.
-
1/17/10 -
WIRELESS MICROPHONE BAN - The
FCC
Adopts Order to clear 700 MHz, and ban wireless microphones there
as of June 12th. A list of microphones is in the FCC Public
Notice.
-
1/14/10 -
BE SOLD - Broadcast
Electronics has had what was described as a minor change in
ownership. BE is owned by several private equity investors and and
two banks. Recently, GE Capital sold their stake to First City
Crestone, who also bought out Audax, the previous majority
owner.
BE's CEO Joseph Roark
stated that the main effect of
all the financial manipulation was
to reduce their debt service and help them concentrate on
business.
-
1/14/10 - Black
Crow Media of Daytona Beach, FL, files for Chapter 11 after being
sued by GE Capital. The owner of around 20 stations in Florida,
Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama says the bankruptcy protection will
allow it to reorganize and serve their markets.
-
1/14/10 - A
angry 58-year-old man walked into KBEZ in Tulsa, seeking a
personality. Police
were called and shot the man.
- 1/10/10 - An
Actual EAN Test was conducted in Alaska this past week, and deemed a relative
success. The
test was a cooperative venture with the Alaska
Broadcasters Association, the DHS, FEMA, and the state SECC.
The head of the Alaska Broadcasters Association said: "In
spite of the AP Headline (below) the test has been called a success
by both federal and state EMS/DHS officials. It was received at
10:01 and it ended approximately 3 minutes later when the EOM was
sent. No stations were left with continuous alerts or interrupted
signals. There were a few reports of tests running twice."
The only equipment oriented
problems seem to center on DASDEC gear.
A further summary of some of the things that happened/were learned
should be available soon. One thing is clear, Part 11 has not kept
up with the realities of EAS on the ground.
A true nationwide test - the first - can
be expected
later in 2010.
- 1/7/10 - A
sub-contractor has been ordered to pay some $16 million dollars
as a result of a May 2007 fire at KRBT, Avalon, CA (Catalina Island
- off LA). Gary Hunt was apparently using a torch to cut tower
cables, when a 4000 acre fire was started. In addition to the
restitution orders, Hunt was sentenced to five years probation, plus
jail time or community service.
- 1/7/10 - A
new study seems to show that cell phone waves may prevent or reduce
Alzheimer's Disease in mice. This is very preliminary, but is going
to be of interest to many, both from the aspect of the potential therapeutic
effects, as well as the other side - RF is not as bad as some
environmental groups would have you believe!
Back to the top
- 12/26/09 -
Percy
Sutton passes away. The Founder of Inner City Broadcasting Corp.
started with WLIB in 1971, the first black-owned radio station in
NYC - and was a major force in local politics.
- 12/23/09 -
The FCC Delays Ownership Reports AGAIN!
Don't worry about the January 11th date. It is on
"temporary hold" for a third time. But keep working on the
data, if you have not filed. Although there will be a 90-day
"Window," the FCC says only data as of November 1, 2009 is
needed.
- 12/23/09 -
More financial stuff: Radio One approves "reverse split and
Regent get notified it is in danger of delisting - it has 90 days to
get its stock over $1 per share.
- 12/21/09
- NextMedia
files bankruptcy
After unsuccessful negotiations with bondholders, the company, with
36 radio stations, files Chapter 11. Shareholders are wiped out.
- 12/20/09
- Citadel
files bankruptcy
Company says it will re-emerge in approx. 300 days.
Who
Killed Citadel? Common shareholders are wiped out.
- 12/17/09
- WCSZ, in the Greenville, SC market, was stripped of most
all their equipment by thieves.
The transmitter - an MW-50 -
was gutted, as was the co-located studio.
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