The Broadcasters' Desktop Resource
This Week’s Newsletter
Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 866, Volume 17, #33 for March 18, 2026
BROADCAST ELECTRONICS MOVES INTO A NEW VERSION
BE announced this week that a group led by CEO Rich Redmond and The Alzana Group have purchased Broadcast Electronics from the Elenos Group. The company expects to continue customer focused innovation and delivering new products with breakthrough capabilities for their worldwide radio broadcast customer base.
SPRING? WINTER? WHAT?
This week marks the official start of Spring 2026. That may be hard to believe in some states, especially in the northern tier, that are getting some nasty storms (a good time to ensure your NWS radio is working correctly). Was Punxsutawney Phil right? Meanwhile, we are looking at our first 100 degree day for the year this week, the earliest ever and two months ahead of the average.
But it is, after all, a dry heat!
SELECTING THE RIGHT AUDIO CONSOLE
There are a lot of choices when it comes to installing or replacing a studio console. Analog or digital, 8 pots or 20 pots, one, two, or three metered buses – and those are just the first things to consider. This week, we talk consoles. Allen Harrison, General Manager of Arrakis Systems is our guest. He will show off their latest models and discuss how Arrakis Systems seeks to produce consoles that meet the needs of their customers, without breaking the bank.
Join us Thursday at 2 PM Eastern /11 AM Pacific, and let us learn things. The link request is, as usual, at www.theBDR.net/TLG/ Yes, you can see us on YouTube live – but joining us on zoom makes it easier to ask questions and discuss issues.
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!
FINAL FOUR / MADNESS
Just like the recent Super Bowl week, March brings us another set of phrases that stations need to be cautious about use. March Madness and the Final Four are registered trademarks. So if any on-air talent sets out to promote a special event or on-air promotion using those terms, it is not impossible for you to hear from a legal firm, seeking large amounts of money. Some of the younger air staffers may not have heard of this, so a gentle warning might be useful!
PIRATE RADIO REPORT
The FCC has released the report of the agency’s actions during 2025 in regards to enforcement of pirate radio stations.
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-418174A1.pdf
ANOTHER CHAIN WITH MONEY TROUBLES
The Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) just missed a debt deadline. The default has raises issues with the creditors. So far, they have agreed to give SBS a little more time.
SOME NWR UPGRADES TO COME?
In the wake of the 2025 flood disaster in Texas, Representative Brian Babin (R-TX) is working on a Bill at the US House Science, Space, and Technology Committee to help NOAA Weather Radio modernize their transmitters and better disseminate alerts via IP protocols (in other words, via Internet streams).
WORLD BACKUP DAY
March 31st is recognized as World Backup Day – a yearly reminder to have a solid backup plan, including making backups and checking them periodically to ensure they are good and capable of being used should trouble happen – “whether it’s a hardware failure, a cyberattack, or just a simple mistake – you don’t want to lose the work that matters most,”Larry O’Connor, CEO and Founder, Other World Computing (OWC) notes.
Conner says: “hoping your data is safe and actually protecting it are two very different things. If everything lives in one place, whether that’s a laptop or a single cloud account, you’re one mistake or outage away from losing something that might have taken years to create. The smartest approach we see people taking today is a mix of on-prem storage, cloud, and reliable backups so their work exists in more than one place. When your storage is fast and dependable, backing up just becomes part of the workflow instead of something you keep meaning to get around to.'”
Why March 31st? a group of Reddit users wanted to spread the word in a way that would stick, so they picked the day before April Fool’s, with the message: “Don’t be a fool – back up your data!”
What started as an Internet joke quickly became a worldwide movement. Tech companies, IT professionals, and even everyday computer users taking a moment to ensure their work is backed up … and safe.
A NEW ISSUE WITH AI
Retailers are reporting a new wave of AI problems: where bad actors use AI to create fake images and documents claiming something they bought is damaged or worse, in order to see refunds. Broadcast news departments are also seeing faked images and audio surfacing that might lead them to report fake news. Caution is the word!
FOR SALE
If you are looking for a 4-Bay ERi antenna, 280 feet of tower and coax, take a look at the new items this week on the ForSale page.
There is lots more to see, as well.
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!
Here are some of the more recent items of interest:
- My Experience with Tubes and Rebuilders – Reid Brandon
- Join the Lunch Gathering – Thursday 2 PM Eastern
- Enforcement Watch – License deleted / EAS fine: $369k
- Coping with Overgrown Wild Vegetation – Barry Mishkind
- Making Nautel Customer Support Better – John Wilton
- Keep Your Copper in the Ground – Clay Freinwald
- The Rewards of a Broadcast Career – Mike Vanhooser
- What Do We Really Know About Reginald Fessenden – Donna Halper
- Y2K – Tempest in a Computer Code – Barry Mishkind
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!
MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS
The NAB 2026 display of StreamGuys Ultra-Low Latency Streaming (ULLS) technology will demonstrate some significant enhancements. This will be especially valuable to stations broadcasting live sporting events by delivering audio essentially in sync with the live action. The service also opens some new revenue opportunities for clubs and broadcasters.
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Digital Alert Systems will showcase Version 6.0 of its DASDEC emergency messaging software at NAB 2026, and highlight new developments across its alerting and device‑management platforms. (Version 6.0 is available at no cost to customers enrolled in the Digital Alert Systems Software Assurance Plan, those who have purchased a new DASDEC unit, and participants in the company’s UP-TRADE program dating back to October 2025. )
Additionally, the company will debut DAS-Flex, which combines the emergency alerting platform with the D2D Flex ATSC multiplexer. The integrated system is designed to support uninterrupted broadcast operations during emergencies or infrastructure failures. By pairing alerting and ATSC transport, DAS-Flex provides redundancy, reliability, and resilience for a range of broadcast applications. Also new: DAS-Link AIR, a secure data gateway designed to ingest broadcast data via integrated ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 receivers, authenticate both source and data, and deliver validated emergency information with multimedia elements.
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Looking for a dual-tuner rebroadcast receiver? Inovonics AARON 656 provides reliable FM and HD signal rebroadcasting.
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A comprehensive ST 2110-based video infrastructure powered by Lawo has completed the second phase of a multi-year modernization effort at the University of Nebraska’s HuskerVision. The result is a campus-wide media fabric capable of handling simultaneous shows from multiple control rooms, while giving student operators access to the same tools used in top-tier broadcast facilities.
Lawo is also planning a special live on-line broadcast on April 8th to introduce a significant innovation that will make system design more efficient, more flexible, and more agile. Registration and info is here.
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At NAB 2026, the Telos Alliance is planning to show off mixing consoles and AoIP networks that leverage operational efficiency for radio studios, as well as OP-based Intercom systems that put global comms in team-members pockets and audio processing for radio, TV and streaming that ups audience retention through reliable consistency. The team also wants to know what else you want them to build.
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NAB NOTES
While the NAB’s Floor Pass offer has expired, it is still possible to get one via the exhibitors (register at NABShow.com). If you are planning to go to Las Vegas in April, do not forget hotel arrangements. Some options are available on the NAB website. You can start to make your walking list with these folks:
Here is a list of key booth locations and free floor pass codes.
- Arrakis Systems
- BGS/Broadcast Tools
- Broadcast Depot
- Broadcast Electronics
- BSW USA
- Comrex
- Davicom
- Digital Alert Systems
- Lawo
- Nautel
- Telos Alliance
- Wheatstone
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!
Do You Remember? This week in history:
Broadcast related items:
- 3 years ago (3/18/23) Morgan Wallen held the record for the most entries on the Hot 100 in a single week, with 36 on March 18, 2023
- 23 years ago (3/20/03) As the war in Iraq started, Bruce Springsteen opened a concert in Australia with “Born in the USA,” follow by a cover of Edwin Stars’ “War.”
- 36 years ago (3/17/90) ARPANET was officially turned off. The “Internet” lives.
- 43 years ago (3/19/82) Joan Jett hit #1 for six weeks with “I Love Rock ‘n Roll.”
- 51 years ago (3/19/75) The movie version of The Who’s rock opera Tommy premiered in the US.
- 58 years ago (3/16/68) “Dock of The Bay,” released a month after Otis Redding dies in a plane crash, hit #1. *
- 68 years ago (3/17/58) The Champs saxophone instrumental “Tequila” hit #1.
- 68 years ago (3/17/58) The first “Greatest Hits” compilation was released. Who was it? **
- 69 years ago (3/19/57) Elvis bought Graceland.
- 73 years ago (3/18/53) the first Academy Awards show and Oscar. Bob Hope was the MC. The statuette for Best Picture went to Cecil B. DeMille�s The Greatest Show on Earth, while John Ford won Best Director for The Quiet Man. Winners in the top two acting categories were Gary Cooper (High Noon) and Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba).
- 74 years ago (3/21/52) Cleveland hosted the “Moondog Coronation Ball” – considered the first Rock concert. It was a short one – shut down after one song!*** Who was the Moondog? ****
- 108 years ago(3/19/1918) Standard Time and “Daylight Saving” time were established in the US.
- 115 years ago (3/18/1911) �Alexander�s Ragtime Band” was the multimillion-selling smash hit that helped turn American popular music into a major international phenomenon, both culturally and economically.
…and 124 years ago (3/20/1902) Nathan Stubblefield demonstrated ship-to-shore broadcasts in Washington, DC.
Here are some other “Headlines of the Past.”
- 31 years ago (3/20/95) there was a Sarin Gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
- 50 years ago (3/20/76) Patty Hearst was convicted of Bank Robbery.
- 57 years ago (3/17/69) Golda Meir became Prime Minister of israel.
- 58 years ago (3/16/68) a platoon of American soldiers brutally killed some 500 unarmed civilians in My Lai Massacre.
- 60 years ago (3/17/66) a missing H-Bomb was found off the coast of Spain.
- 63 years ago (3/21/63) the prison at Alcatraz Island was closed.
- 67 years ago (3/17/59) the Dalai Lama fled Tibet.
and … 89 years ago (3/18/37) Amelia Earhardt left to fly solo around the world.
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!
MIDWEEK BONUS
* Redding’s hit was the first post-humus hit in the USA.
** Johnny Mathis
*** With 25,000 trying to fill the 10,000 seat arena, the Police and Fire Departments halted the show.
**** The Moondog was the nickname for Alan Freed, then on WJW, Cleveland.
MIDWEEK BONUS
Wannabe the owner of a Spice Girls commemorative coin? The Royal Mint in England has released a set of special Five Pound coins to commemorate 30 years of Spice music. If you can get them, they are only 18.50 British Pounds each… although you could get a 2 ounce gold proof coin (200 Pound denomination) for just 10,535 Pounds.
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barry