Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 825, Volume 16, #45 for June 4, 2025

Here are some things you might want to know about:

ASYMMETRICAL HD NOW AVAILABLE
Stations from 88.1 to 106.9 MHz (not in the 107 MHz channels) are able to fill out an online form and begin operating with asymmetrical sidebands.

WILL ASYMMETRY HELP YOU?
Understanding what asymmetry is and how it can help your station(s) is our timely topic this week. Jeff Welton from Nautel does his monthly drop-in and will explain the ins and outs of asymmetrical operation, and how you can decide if you should implement it.

Join us on Thursday at 2 PM … 11 AM Pacific for this informative discussion. The link request is at www.theBDR.net/TLG/ and we will also be live on youtube’s thebdrnet channel.

EAS AS SOFTWARE
Did you miss last week’s discussion with Ed Czarnecki? As with all our videos, we post them, usually the next day. The EAS as software discussion was of interest to a lot of folks. You can see it by checking the Latest Videos on www.theBDR.net/TLG/

Also, you might be interested to know we are now booked until September, with one open week, with some great presentations. Check the same page for the list of upcoming presentations: www.theBDR.net/TLG/

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

A NEW FIGHT OVER EMERGENCY ALERTS
Last October, the FCC approved new rules mandating emergency alerts in more than 12 languages on WEA. It has not been published as yet in the Federal Register. Commissioner Anna Gomez has criticized Chairman Carr for delaying the implementation. Still pending is a modified rule for broadcasters to use multiple languages on EAS Alerts. Nevertheless, the FCC says neither wireless providers nor broadcasters are prohibited from providing alerts in any appropriate language for their coverage area.

NRSC TIME
Have you made arrangements as yet to do the yearly NRSC measurements for each AM station? Contractors who can do the measuring are setting their travel plans now, and stations can make significant savings by being on a tech’s route. Here is a selection of folks we can recommend.

IF YOU OWE IT, THEY WILL COME
The FCC does expect stations to pay the regulatory fees on time. When they do not, and it starts to accumulate, there is a danger of license revocation. Three stations received notice this week. Two were given the “D” and one was warned.

COMPLETELY AI RADIO
A Los Angeles FM station is programmed entirely by AI, voice and music included, in a move to promote a soft drink from the 80’s and 90’s with a station programmed to sound like it was still in that time “zone.” All driven by AI, 106.3FM, The Fizz, is the station.

AN FM AUCTION TO COME?
In the Budget requested for the next fiscal year, the FCC has asked for permission to auction some FM broadcast channels in FY 2026. This could be an interesting time for an auction, as a number of companies have been turning in their licenses (both FM and AM) in response to the business climate.

WOULD YOU PREFER SMOKE OR DUST?
Fires in Canada are spreading a lot of smoke over the northern tier of states. Meanwhile, a dust cloud has crossed the Atlantic from Africa, and is impacting the SE states. Either way, this is a good time to check your air filters – and get spares – to ensure your transmitter has plenty of clean air to work well.

WABE REACHES 75 YEARS
Canada’s Western Association of Broadcast Engineers is celebrating their 75th year in 2025. Their annual convention will be held in Calgary September 29th through October 1st. Would you like to know more about Canadian broadcasting? Tessa Potter’s article is well worth reading.

FOR SALE
This week a cement Shelter is offered at a good price. Also a Scala PR-95 Paraflector. These and other items are, as usual, available on the For Sale page. Check these out and other good buys here.
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 

Some recent articles of interest:

• WABE Meets to Celebrate 75 years – Tessa Potter
• Join the Lunch Gathering – Thursday 2 PM Eastern
• Enforcement Watch – Failure to Pay Fees brings the Big “D”
• Spring Cleaning – the Broadcast IT Edition
• Radio In The Good Old Days – Ron Schacht
• A Look at the NAB’s 2025 Spring Show
• The Orban 8000 at 50 years – Barry Mishkind
• Registered Plug? No, It’s A Jack – Rolf Taylor
• Dana’s Daily Deals

More newsy items here…

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 
MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

Inovonics has released a firmware update for the new 677 EAS Triple Tuner. The 1.1.0.0 update now allows three UDP streams in addition to the normal audio outputs for the tuners. The free upgrade is available here.

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Lawo has been be showing off the latest features in the HOME and Workspace platforms that help bring s launching its new Broadcast Transmission Service Plan – a fully managed program designed to eliminate downtime, reduce risk, and stabilize costs for broadcasters. This plan will actually assume end-to-end responsibility for transmission system performance – including Complete System Coverage, 24/7 Monitoring via EmPower,  Rapid Field Service Response, Parts and Temporary Systems included  – all to eliminate capital surprises with full coverage at predictable monthly costs. Additional details are here.

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Apple users, especially, may be interested in the latest Thunderbolt 5 Docking station from OWC. More information can be found on OWC’s website.

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GatesAir has a special deal for Harris Platinum Z owners: They are offering an upgrade to GatesAir Flexiva transmitters with special pricing. Users may find they achieve great energy efficiency improvements with the Flexiva line. For more information, go here.

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BE also has a special deal, right now, on refurbished FXi-250 exciters. For under $3,000 you can get the exciter and a
manufacturer’s warranty while they are available. Contact Perry Priestley for more information.

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More?  See it here.

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 


Do You Remember? This week in history:
Broadcast related items:

• 7 years ago (6/2/18) BTS became the first K-pop band to hit US Album Chart with “Love Yourself: Tear.”
• 17 years ago (6/1/08) a fire at Universal Studios destroyed some 175,000 master audio recordings.
• 19 years ago (6/2/06) Muscle Shoals Sound Studios was added to the National Historic Register.
• 30 years ago (6/7/95) Fighting his record label, Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol.
• 35 years ago (6/6/90) 2 Live Crew album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be” was declared obscene by a Federal judge.
• 37 years ago (6/1/88) the NRSC-2 AM transmission mask went into effect.
• 38 years ago (6/6/87) Kim Wilde brought “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” back to #1, 21 years after the Supremes did it.
• 43 years ago (6/7/82) Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion was opened to the public.
• 45 years ago (6/1/80) Ted Turner launched CNN.
• 50 years ago (6/6/75) “It was the dark of moon on the 6th of June” in C.W. McCall’s hit “Convoy.“
• 58 years ago (6/3/67) The Doors released a truncated “Light My Fire” (6:50 to 2:52) and hit #1.
• 61 years ago (6/6/64) “Chapel of Love,” among the first of Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” productions hit #1.
• 62 years ago (6/1/63) Kyu Sakamoto topped the charts with “Sukiyaki.“
• 64 years ago (6/1/61) FM Stereo operations began. First up: WEFM Chicago and WGFM Schenectady, NY.
• 69 years ago (6/3/56) Rock ‘n’ Roll was banned in Santa Cruz, California.
• 91 years ago (6/1/34) Edwin Armstrong transmitted FM from the Empire State Building to a site 70 miles away.
• 93 years ago (6/2/32) the FRC issued a CP for WLW to build W8XO at 500 kW.

 … and 129 years ago (6/2/1896) Marconi received his first patent in the UK for a wireless invention.

Here are some other “Headlines of the Past.”

• 36 years ago (6/4/89) the Tiananmen Square massacre happened in China.
• 51 years ago (6/4/74) A Cleveland Indians promotional experiment went off the rails when they offered 10-cent beers.*
• 54 years ago (6/6/71) The Ed Sullivan Show ended its run.
• 57 years ago (6/5/68) Bobby Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
• 58 years ago (6/5/67) The Six-Day War began between Israel and the Arab states.
• 63 years ago (6/7/62) Switzerland was the site of the first drive-through bank.
• 72 years ago (6/2/53) Queen Elizabeth II was coronated.
• 81 years ago (6/6/44) the Allies stormed ashore during DDay in France.
• 88 years ago (6/3/37) Duke of Windsor weds American socialite, having abdicated as King.
• 92 years ago (6/6/33) the First drive-in movie theater opened. **
• 92 years ago (6/5/33) President Roosevelt took the US off the Gold Standard.
• 345 years ago (6/6/1683) the first university museum opened in Oxford, England.

… and finally, 386 years ago (6/3/1539) the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto claimed Florida for Spain.

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 

* The promotion led – as you might expect – to a riot. Intoxicated spectators stormed the field, resulting in violence and a game forfeiture (to the Texas Rangers). Players tried to defend themselves with bats, but the result – do you think? – led to few (none?) similar promotions.

** Originally places where folks could bring a chair to watch an outdoor movie, Richard Hollingsworth put a projector on the hood of his car and patented the term “Park-In Theaters,” the first-ever located in Camden, NJ. The first movie shown was Wives Beware. When the patent expired in 1949, the industry boomed.

A hybrid theatre de Guadalupe in Las Cruces, NM showed a film, Bags of Gold, to people in the auditorium and some adjacent cars in April 1923, but it was not strictly a drive-in facility (700 seats vs maybe 40 parking spaces).


MIDWEEK BONUS

This five minute video will offer an interesting explanation of Black Holes (no, not the one in your budget!).

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PLEASE INVITE A FRIEND
We sure hope you are finding the BDR and the Newsletter to be of value to you. If so, there are two things that you can do to ensure the BDR keeps pulsing along:
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        2. Anytime you deal with one of our sponsors, letting them know the BDR is important to you will make them happy – and ready to keep on supporting the BDR.

TELL US WHAT’S WHAT
There are so many areas into which we would like to expand, but it is feedback from you that helps us decided where to go first. Are you interested in a certain piece of gear or technology? Let us know. Even better, would you be willing to do a user report and share your experience?

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We sure do appreciate you spending time with our Newsletter. And even more so when you recommend us to your colleagues and friends.

barry

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Now … some extra stuff .. some important … some just interesting.

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