Barry Mishkind

The Broadcasters' Desktop Resource

... edited by Barry Mishkind - the Eclectic Engineer

This Week’s Newsletter

Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 855, Volume 17, #22 for December 31, 2025

GOODBYE TO 2025
We used to remind folks that tomorrow we need to use the following year on checks. However, fewer and fewer checks are going out these days. A lot of payments are electronic – and the Post Office hates that! <gggg> (Even worse, the Danish Post Office is discontinuing delivery of mail today.) At any rate, whether you are writing a check or dating a file, it will shortly be time to use 2026 on anything important.

Still need a 2026 Calendar? John Schneider has them! In addition to all 365 days, each month’s calendar page commemorates important dates in radio history. Check it out here

DAY ONE 2026
Time to check and make sure your station and maintenance logs are up to date, the tower lighting system inspection is done (if you have lights), and the Q4 Issues and Programs filing has been made (or is ready to file) to the FCC OPIF.

Y2K AT 26!
It was 26 years ago when virtually everyone was worried about what would happen on the stroke of midnight opening the new year. Some thought all computers would think it was 1900, others worried that major systems would go off-line. … and a very old transmitter spoke!

HOW DID YOU GET HERE? WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?
Yep, another Thursday holiday. You may have family/etc., but we will be on-line at 2PM Eastern on Thursday. This week: “How I got into broadcasting.” And … “Why Am I Still Here?” It should be interesting. 

Join us on Thursday at 2 PM Eastern / 11 AM Pacific. The link request is on www.theBDR.net/TLG/

FCC 2025 HIGHLIGHTS
Chairman Brendan Carr has a list of 75 items he feels represent the accomplishments of the FCC during the year.

DEFENDING POLICIES
The FCC Commissioners appeared to speak with the Senate oversight committee last Wednesday. A key point was when Carr, referring to a recent Supreme Court ruling, noted the FCC can enforce public interest standards without violating the 1st Amendment or censorship laws. Another answer contained the statement that the FCC is not truly “an independent agency.”

NOT ONLY TODAY
It was 1941 when the FCC labelled NBC and CBS as monopolies, seeking to break them up. The US Department of Justice then indicted both networks under the Sherman Antitrust Act. However, the legal action was dismissed after a Supreme Court ruling, and NBC sold the Blue Network to what became ABC.

KLOE TOWER COMES ALL THE WAY DOWN
The self-supporting KLOE tower in Goodland, KS, which lost some insulators (not guy wires) and started leaning, has in fact, now lost all the insulators and has come completely down, as a tower crew was not able to get to it in time. At this point, the owner seems disinclined to replace it and will likely be turning in the license. (Hat tip to Bart Jones)

VANDALS UP NORTH
Canadians near Edmonton lost cell service for several days when vandals cut a guy wire and dropped a key cell tower – damage over $800k. Reports are that it will take eight months or more to replace – with the telco using a mobile cell server in the meantime. (Hat tip: Mark Earle)

NAB & PREC – APRIL 2026 IN LAS VEGAS
Just prior to the NAB Spring Show (April 18-22), the Association of Public Radio Engineers (PREC) will hold its 26th annual conference on April 16, 17. By the way, registration at early-bird pricing for both PREC and the NAB Spring Show is open, and Floor Passes are available.

AES TO CONVENE IN NASHVILLE
It will be on October 30th to November 1st when AES the Audio Engineering Society meets in Nashville for 2026, stating the move will revitalize the organization.

STREAMING TAKES ANOTHER OTA PROGRAM
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and YouTube have signed a multi-year deal that will give YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars, beginning in 2029 with the 101st Oscars ceremony and running through 2033.

… AND SONY GRABS ANOTHER HANDFUL OF PEANUTS
Sony will pay $475M to double its stake in “Peanuts Holdings” at 80%. Good Grief! (The other 20% will continue with the family of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz.) Did you know the original name of the strip was “Li’l Folks?” After three years, it was renamed to “Peanuts” in 1950.


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

 

Here are some of the more recent items of interest:

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

                       
                       MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

                      Along with the new year, manufacturers are starting to ramp up production of new/improved products for the Spring NAB Show, with the goal of being ready in April.

                      Depending upon your needs, this is a good time to listen and check before buying – not just in broadcast, but the CES (Consumer Electronics) is next week, and you will be seeing a lot of new things, plus updated versions of gear you already know. In other words, this is the time of year to check before you buy things.

                      ===

                      FYI:                       In some states, companies have to pay an inventory tax on merchandise that is on the shelves. Discount Electronics in Dallas is one that has dropped prices as much as 85-90% on some of the stock left – until today. If you need some computer items it is worth checking out.

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

                       

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

                        • this month (12/28/26) Beyonce became the fifth billionaire musician after her recent “Cowboy Carter” album and tour.
                        • 21 years ago (12/30/04)
                        • 29 years ago (1/1/97) the current Part 11 EAS Rules went into effect. A rewrite has been promised by the FCC “Real Soon Now.” (Who knows? The FCC might even define “immediately.”)
                        • 31 years ago (12/31/94) Rod Stewart played a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, drawing a crowd estimated at 3.5 million.*
                        • 39 years ago (1/3/1987) the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first woman artist. ** 
                        • 40 years ago (12/31/85) Rick Nelson was killed in a plane crash.
                        • 56 years ago (1/3/70) B.J. Thomas was #1 for four weeks with “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.” The movie?***
                        • 78 years ago (1/1/68) “Dock of The Bay” was released a month after Otis Redding died in a plane crash. It became the first ever posthumous #1 hit in the US in March.
                        • 64 years ago (1/2/62) The Weavers, one of the most popular folk music groups in the postwar era, were nearly destroyed during the “Red Scare” when the group’s appearance on The Jack Paar Show was cancelled over their refusal to sign an oath of political loyalty.
                        • 66 years ago (1/1/60) – Johnny Cash plays his first free concert at San Quentin Prison. Merle Haggard is among the inmate audience.
                        • 68 years ago (12/29/57) Elvis Presley was drafted.
                        • 97 years ago (1/3/1929) William Paley incorporates Columbia Broadcast System (CBS).

                        … and 124 years ago (1/1/1902) Nathan Stubblefied demonstrated in Murray KY his telephone using “natural conduction.”

                        And here are some “regular news history” type items:

                        • 19 years ago (12/29/06) Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed.
                        • 26 years ago (12/31/99) the US turned over the Panama Canal to Panama.
                        • 43 years ago (1/3/83) Time magazine named the computer the “Machine of the Year“
                        • 43 years ago (1/1/83) ARPANET switched from NCP to TCP/IP. 
                        • 52 years ago (1/2/74) President Nixon signed the national speed limit law: 55 mph.
                        • 53 years ago (12/30/72) President Nixon suspended bombing of North Viet Nam.
                        • 102 years ago (1/3/1924)  King Tut’s sarcophagus was uncovered by Howard Carter.
                        • 103 years ago (12/30/1922) the USSR was established.          
                        • 135 years ago (12/29/1890) in the final chapter of America’s long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
                        • 146 years ago (12/31/1879) Thomas Edison First Public demonstration of the incandescent light on the street in Menlo Park, NJ

                        and … 2070 years ago (1/1/45 BCE) the Julian Calendar took effect. (Used until 1582).


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

                                         

                                        * Guinness declared it the largest free rock concert ever.

                                        ** Aretha Franklin was the first.

                                        *** Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

                                        MIDWEEK BONUS

                                        Ever wonder why we call a group of males and females “Guys?” The term goes back to 1605 when Guy Fawkes tried to assassinate King James I by bombing the House of Lords at the Opening of Parliament. Arrested and executed, a UK celebration of Guy Fawkes Night included people carrying rough-hewn and crude effigies of the would-be bomber, called Guys. These images of Fawkes became so common that British people started using “guys” to describe any grotesquely or poorly dressed person, or group of such. The meaning has changed slightly over the years!

                                        =

                                        Tired of the tipping craze? 75% of Americans think tipping culture has gone a bit too far, with fintech tipping screens in all sorts of places where you get little or no service aside from the cashier taking your money. 1/3 of Americans now say when presented with a tipping screen, they give less. Will things change with the new “No Tax On Tips” laws? Probably not.

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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

                                              – – –

                                              Yes … you might have seen it before, but we should do this: some extra stuff .. some important … some just interesting.

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