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Radio World

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V-Soft Compiles New Census Data

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 01:57 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/products/v-soft-compiles-new-census-data


V-Soft Communications has compiled U.S. Census 2020 TIGER area files for
use by its Probe and FMCommander computer programs.

“These new files cover urban areas, county lines and names, and city boundaries,” the company stated. “They also include files accessible by Probe that contain new state boundary data, county subdivisions and several other similar area distinctions, such as metropolitan divisions and
statistical locations.”

The files are the latest released by the U.S. Census. TIGER stands for topologically integrated geographic encoding and referencing.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

The RF communications software company will demonstrate the 2020 area data during two Zoom webinars April 12. Click here to register.

In its statement announcing the webinars, V-Soft also said it will not be attending the NAB Show due to health and safety reasons, instead offering travel and lodging discounts to those who purchase its programs.

The post V-Soft Compiles New Census Data appeared first on Radio World.


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NABOB Remembers Broadcaster Pervis Spann

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 12:35 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/people-news/nabob-remembers-broadcaster-pervis-spann


The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters released a statement Monday honoring Pervis Spann, former WVON Radio president and co-founder of Midway Broadcasting Corporation, the stations parent company.

Spann died following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 89. Longtime broadcaster Pervis Spann and wife, Lovie (photo via NABOB)

Spann’s broadcast career spanned more than 60 years, according to the
NABOB. In 1963, he became the second disc jockey hired by Leonard Chess,
who founded the WVON Radio station that same year.

Per the NABOB, Spann reigned as the most listened-to overnight disc jockey
in Chicago for more than 10 years. Because of his love for Blues music, he became known throughout the broadcast industry as The Blues Man.

Known globally as the person who crowned Aretha Franklin ‘The Queen of Soul’ and B.B. King ‘The King of Blues, Spann was also a successful concert promoter and radio station owner, acquiring stations in Jacksonville, FL; Atlanta, GA, and Memphis, TN, the NABOB statement read. However, it was at
WVON Radio in Chicago, where he built his incomparable broadcast career.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Jim Winston, NABOB President, said Spann was active in NABOB back when he
first got involved with the organization.

He also became one of the first clients of my law firm, said Winston.
Pervis came to visit me at my law office once, and he told me he wanted to
pay my bill. He then proceeded to pull this huge wad of one-hundred-dollar bills from his pocket. When I gasped, he laughed. He explained that, when
he promoted concerts, he frequently walked around the concert with fifty thousand dollars in cash on him.”

Winston added, “Pervis was a great person. I never saw him without a smile
on his face. On behalf of NABOB, and for me personally, I extend sincere condolences to NABOB Board Member Melody Spann-Cooper and the Spann family.”

Spann is survived by his wife of 67 years, Lovie, and four children,
including radio executive, Melody Spann-Cooper.

Watch the video below to learn more about Pervis Spanns career.



The post NABOB Remembers Broadcaster Pervis Spann appeared first on Radio World.


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NAB Launches On-Air Campaign Against Performance Fee

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 12:33 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/nab-launches-on-air-campaign-against-performance-fee


The National Association of Broadcasters thinks the American Music Fairness
Act is likely to pass out of committee soon. It is encouraging U.S. radio stations to run spots about the legislation that would impose a performance royalty on broadcast radio.

The NAB radio board voted unanimously on Friday to approve an on-air
campaign that includes radio spots and digital creative calling on
listeners to urge Congress “to stand up for local radio.”

[Read NABs position page on the legislation.]

“NAB anticipates the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by longtime performance tax proponent Jerry Nadler,  to consider and most likely pass
this bill out of committee in the coming weeks.”

Association President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt was among those addressing the committee on this topic last month. He says NAB welcomes a chance to “work
on meaningful solutions to this issue. However, the record labels seem singularly focused on pushing Congress to act on a performance royalty bill that would radically upend one of their greatest promotional tools. Radio cannot sit idly by while the record labels seek to undermine our business
at the expense of artists and listeners.”

NAB  posted a link where stations can access the campaign elements.

Although it thinks the legislation will move out of committee, NAB has said
it believes congressional opposition to a performance fee “is extremely strong.”

Advocates for a performance fee believe radio stations should not be exempt from compensating artists and labels for content, and that creators should
be the ones to decide what constitutes beneficial promotion of their work.

Michael Huppe, president/CEO of SoundExchange, has said the lack of
performance rights to artists or labels “is one of the most egregious injustices that exists today in the U.S. music industry.”

The proposed legislation includes a provision to limit the cost to small broadcasters for playing music to $500, and qualified public, college and noncommercial stations would pay $100.

The post NAB Launches On-Air Campaign Against Performance Fee appeared
first on Radio World.


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AM License Under Review After Felony Conviction

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 11:22 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/am-license-under-review-after-felony-conviction


A hearing proceeding is underway to determine if the license of a Tennessee
AM station should be revoked following the felony conviction of its
licensee. 

According to the FCC, a jury convicted Joseph Armstrong, proprietor of Arm
& Rage LLC of filing a false federal income tax return. Arm and Rage is licensed for WJBE(AM) in Powell, Tenn., 

Armstrong, who is an elected representative in the Tennessee legislature, allegedly purchased cigarette tax stamps in 2007 and sold them at a profit
of approximately $330,000 following the legislature’s increase in the state’s cigarette tax. 

During the trial, the jury found that Armstrong failed to include this
profit on his federal 2008 individual income tax return. In 2017, Armstrong
was sentenced to three years of probation, which included six months of
house arrest. He was also ordered to pay $99,943 in restitution to the
federal government, submit a $40,000 fine as well as perform 300 hours of community service. 

Arm & Rage has a license renewal application that is pending for review
with the Federal Communications Commission. The felony conviction raises
the question — under the commission’s Character Qualifications Policy Statement — as to whether Armstrong possesses the necessary character qualifications to remain an FCC licensee.

The Media Bureau said it will place the renewal on hold until a Hearing Designation Order is completed. If the license is revoked, the pending
renewal application will be dismissed as moot. If the license is not
revoked, the Media Bureau will attempt to determine if the renewal
application — which also disclosed rule violations concerning Arm & Rage’s filing of biennial ownership reports and issues/program lists — should be granted, denied or granted under certain conditions. 

[See Our Business and Law Page]

The bureau will also determine if it will grant a waiver of those required reports that Arm & Rage submitted when the application was filed.

In a case like this, FCC rules require licensees to report a conviction as
an adverse finding because this type of conduct may have a bearing on the character qualifications that the commission uses to determine eligibility
of broadcast station license holders. Arm & Rage filed that document but
did so about two weeks after the due date. 

Section 312 of the Communications Act lays out the circumstances in which
the commission may revoke a license. Among them is the character of an applicant, a factor that the FCC says “is among the important public
interest factors that the commission considers in determining whether an applicant has the requisite qualifications to become and/or remain a
commission licensee.”

And the key question in any character inquiry, the bureau said, is whether
the applicant is likely to be forthright in dealings with the commission
and whether it can show willingness to follow FCC rules. 

The commission considers a felony to be a serious crime, and that type of misconduct — even though it doesn’t relate to an FCC violation specifically — may call into question a licensee’s character. The hearing will determine
whether Armstrong, and by extension Arm & Rage, possess the requisite
character qualifications to remain a licensee.

The hearing will be a restricted one, the bureau said, although parties who want the opportunity to participate can file a written request within 20
days of Arm & Rage’s hearing designation order.

The post AM License Under Review After Felony Conviction appeared first on Radio World.


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Cumulus Promotes Layfield in Indianapolis

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 09:03 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/people-news/cumulus-promotes-layfield-in-indianapolis

Christopher “Boomer” Layfield, new operations manager for Cumulus Media

Cumulus Media has promoted Christopher “Boomer” Layfield to operations manager for its six stations in Indianapolis.

He will lead programming operations for country station WFMS(FM), classic
hits WJJK(FM), rock station WNDX(FM), AC-formatted WNTR(FM), top 40
WZPL(FM) and sports WXNT(AM).

“Layfield joined Cumulus Indianapolis in April 2018 and served as one of
two operations managers for the cluster until January, and as program
director for country station WFMS(FM),” the company said. “He will continue to program WFMS and adult contemporary station WNTR(FM).”

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

He has held programming positions in markets including Charlotte, St.
Louis, Richmond, San Diego and Nashville.

The announcement was made by Chuck Fredrick, VP/market manager, and Doug Hamand, VP, programming operations.

Send announcements for People News, particularly technical and executive
roles, to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Cumulus Promotes Layfield in Indianapolis appeared first on Radio World.


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Kintronic Labs Launches e-Commerce Website

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:45 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/kintronic-labs-launches-e-commerce-website


Kintronic Labs has opened an online store where engineers and other broadcasters can obtain specialized components.

The store can be accessed from the homepage of the company website by
clicking the link “Online Store” on the main menu.

“Initially, we are offering mica and vacuum capacitors,” the company said in its announcement. “Soon we will have many other products such as dehydrators, copper strap, RF contactors, lighting chokes and many more for your shopping convenience.”
An image from the Kintronic website.

Shoppers will need to create an account in order to check out. The company accepts most major credit cards.

“We recommend that resellers continue to purchase from us using the
standard purchase order process.”

Online purchases are currently limited to the United States.

[See Our News and Business Page]

The post Kintronic Labs Launches e-Commerce Website appeared first on Radio World.


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Exhibitor Preview: NATE at the NAB Show

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/show-news/nab-show/exhibitor-preview-nate-at-the-nab-show


Planning for the 2022 NAB Show is ramping up, and Radio World is asking exhibitors about their plans and expectations. Todd Schlekeway is
president/CEO of NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association.
Todd Schlekeway, president/CEO of NATE

Radio World: What will be NATE’s most important news or theme?

Todd Schlekeway: NATE has maintained a positive, collaborative relationship with NAB for many years. The NAB Show is a great forum for NATE to get in
front of our broadcast-centric contractor and vendor members. Many of
NATE’s founding member companies had their roots in the broadcast industry, so this show is somewhat of a reunion annually for that segment of our membership.

Some of the themes and resources you will see on display at the NATE booth include information on our latest best safety practice resources, workforce development resources, legislative and regulatory priorities and of course, membership information.

Now is a great time to join NATE as a member company, given our growing momentum as an organization in a vibrant and evolving industry ecosystem.
NATE recently eclipsed the 1,110 member mark and we have added many
value-added benefits for members to access over the last three years.

[For More News on the NAB Show See Our NAB Show News Page]

RW: NATE has said that tower service companies in the United States face a workforce shortage of almost 15,000 people and that it could get worse.
What does NATE want government or the private sector to do about that
problem?

Schlekeway: NATE’s own workforce survey from our member companies encompassing all 50 states revealed a workforce shortage of 14,693 tower workers and other essential deployment personnel. This is just the shortage under NATE’s membership umbrella!

Workforce development is a top priority for NATE and we are currently in
Year 2 implementing our workforce strategic plan.

Of note, NATE just finalized a Telecommunications Tower Technician I (TTTI) Turnkey Curriculum package that will be utilized in community colleges and technical institutes around the country. Later this spring, three community colleges in the state of Ohio will be the first to utilize this curriculum. NATE will be working diligently to establish these TTTI programs in other schools around the country over the next few years.

Congress, in addition to the federal government, can play a role in moving
the needle on our industry’s workforce needs by ensuring that a portion of the generational type broadband deployment money, that is coming as part of
the Infrastructure Jobs and Investment Act law that passed last year, be allocated to communications technician worker training programs.
A screengrab from NATEs feature-length documentary “Vertical Freedom (photo courtesy of NATE)

This is a conversation NATE has frequently with the members of Congress and
the key federal government agencies we collaborate with. If there is not a workforce to come alongside the financial investment, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to close the digital divide and accomplish
our nation’s ambitious connectivity and deployment goals.

RW: In December, NATE said most of its members opposed a federal government vaccination mandate and that many tower workers would rather quit. Can you update us on that issue, whether this is still a concern? What percentage
of tower workers are vaccinated?

Schlekeway: In my role as president and CEO of NATE, I hear frequently from
our member company employers and in some cases, their technician employees regarding the consternation over vaccine mandates. There is no doubt that imposing vaccine mandates on communications contractor small businesses and their technician workforce would further serve to hamstring an already constrained workforce.

NATE conducted a member survey on the topic so we have both tangible data
and also the anecdotal feedback that vaccine mandates would have, on some level, adversely impacted workers and driven some of them to other
industries. As the COVID-19 omicron variant has settled down and we look to
be headed to a more endemic phase, the issue is currently not as “front and center” as it was three to four months ago.
A screengrab from NATEs feature-length documentary “Vertical Freedom (photo courtesy of NATE)

RW: Anything else we should know about NATE products or current policy priorities?

Schlekeway: I would be remiss if I did not mention the feature-length documentary movie “Vertical Freedom” that NATE financed and produced in collaboration with StoryBuilt Media.

Vertical Freedom chronicles the lives and times of six diverse tower
climbers who overcome personal struggle and everyday danger to perform extraordinary work at very high levels to connect us all. The movie
includes amazing footage of broadcast towers, and one of the featured technicians is a broadcast tower worker.

The association is currently working with an entertainment sales agency to market the movie to the prominent streaming platforms and Tier-One film festivals and it is our hope that NAB attendees will be able to watch this
film later this year. [View the trailer below.]



For more information on Vertical Freedom, visit the company website.

The post Exhibitor Preview: NATE at the NAB Show appeared first on Radio
World.


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Buyers Guide: KCON Extends Reach With GatesAir

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 02:00 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/buyers-guide/buyers-guide-kcon-extends-reach-with-gatesair


Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on transmitters.
GatesAirs Flexiva FAX air-cooled transmitter

East Arkansas Broadcasters, which owns and operates 33 full-power stations
in its namesake state, recently ordered GatesAir Flexiva FAX air-cooled transmitters for three FM stations. The first of these has now gone on the
air at KCON(FM).

Licensed to Vilonia, the family-owned broadcaster recently acquired the 25,000-watt Class C3 station to better serve the busy Conway and Little
Rock markets. The purchase came with old, dilapidated equipment, requiring
a complete rebuild of the transmission facility.

“The station was barely on the air,” said Palmer Johnson, who managed the rebuild on behalf of East Arkansas Broadcasters.

“We use GatesAir almost exclusively, so we quickly ordered a FAX15 15kW transmitter. We require about 9 kW of analog for our TPO. That got us up to full power within three days, and leaves room for digital when we add HD
Radio service.”

[Read More Buyers Guide Reviews Here]

Johnson updated the electrical and grounded the facility prior to the single-cabinet transmitter’s arrival. The FAX15 takes up half the space of the old 10 kW transmitter, returning valuable space for maintenance.
However, Johnson anticipates minimal work, saying that the transmitter is
among the simplest he has installed.

“It was as simple as connecting the RF plumbing, the AC and the audio,” he said. “The design is labor-friendly, and I really like the AC distribution connection and layout. I have a 25 kW FAX in service at another station,
and I just clean the filters once a month. We have never had off-air
problems with any of our FAX transmitters.”

Johnson adds that remote monitoring is easy through the FAX15’s web interface; he monitors the health and status of KCON and four other FAX transmitters from his Jonesboro office.

Company owner Bobby Caldwell said the project delivered improvements in
sound and coverage. “We can get the signal into Little Rock now, as well as Bald Knob, Heber Springs, Morillton, even Fairfield Bay and all the way to Searcy. That opens up some very nice new business opportunities for our
sales team.”

The post Buyer’s Guide: KCON Extends Reach With GatesAir appeared first on Radio World.


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How to Survive in a Small Market

Posted: 19 Mar 2022 02:00 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/tech-tips/how-to-survive-in-a-small-market


Kevin Thomas is the owner of WDKC(FM) “KC101 FM” in Pennsylvania’s Tioga County, a station where radio spots cost only a few dollars and the biggest community in the coverage area consists of a few thousand residents.

He’d like Radio World to share more tricks and “hacks” to help broadcasters
in tiny markets.

“All small-market stations have unique inventions,” he said, and cited a few of his own.

“For example I have learned that if you offer a gas station $100 of free
ads to ask every customer for a what station they’re listening to, you’ll get a sample size of more than 500 and a gas station owner who is not only going to run ads on your station but who understands that your audience is their customer.”
Kevin Thomas in the studio (photo courtesy of WDKC)

WDKC also started bringing a portable MP3 recorder to its events and
offering a free T-shirt to anyone who voices a listener liner. It now has a library of more than 400 local listeners on the station voicing liners.

“We also just started a new program where we interview the oldest residents of our county each Saturday morning about life in the 1930s and ’40s. I
wish that I had thought of it years ago.”

WDKC can even operate its on-air equipment on golf cart batteries in a
power outage if necessary.

[Read More Tech Tips Here]

“Maybe do a series of articles, each featuring a small-market station and their favorite hacks to survive in this world — like how to know when to raise your rates or how to price 60-second ads versus :30s. Where to find
voice track talent and how to train them (we work with our local theater group). An introduction to mic processing, or comparing studio consoles
that cost under $1,000.”

Let’s help Kevin. What tips or hacks have you used to succeed as a small-market broadcaster? Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Station Hacks” in the subject line.

The post How to Survive in a Small Market appeared first on Radio World.


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A New FM+HD Radio Architecture

Posted: 19 Mar 2022 02:00 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/show-news/nab-show/a-new-fmhd-radio-architecture


In 2020 Nautel participated in a demonstration that described a new
approach to HD Radio time alignment. We asked Chief Technology Officer
Philipp Schmid for an update.

Radio World: First let’s summarize what was demo’d.

Philipp Schmid: In response to industry demand, Nautel, in cooperation with Telos Alliance, demonstrated a new FM+HD Radio transport architecture based
on established standards that allows a broadcast transmitter to simply
connect to an IP address for all its audio and data content for both FM and
HD Radio including all subchannels and data services.

This approach greatly simplifies today’s HD Radio installations consisting
of many fixed-purpose boxes (and ensuing rat’s nest of cables) at the transmitter site.

Now we can relocate major broadcast functions like audio processing such as
the Omnia Enterprise 9s and audio encoding as in Xperi Gen4 into pure
software components that can be centrally managed. Software components can
also easily be duplicated for maintenance and redundancy purposes.

We demonstrated how we cloned several instances of the HD Radio air chain
in Amazon Web Services and distributed them across data centers across the globe. We demonstrated a Nautel VS transmitter switching between the cloned
air chains on simulated air chain failure conditions with minimal
interruption to the overall broadcast signal.

The final standby air chain was running on our HD MultiCast+ platform
running beside the transmitter demonstrating continued broadcast under
complete STL failure conditions.

RW: It seems there were several implications of that demo for how digital
radio air chains are constructed.

Schmid: Yes, the ultimate centralized location is the cloud, no matter if it’s a corporately managed data center or third-party service provider like AWS, Microsoft Azure or others. Smaller broadcasters can also benefit from shared centralization through simplified management and access to a pool of technical experts.

With the right transmitter, upgrading to HD Radio broadcasting will be so simple and cost-effective that any broadcasters can easily convert to HD
Radio, even only for a limited time, should they see an opportunity to
lease an HD Radio sub-channel or host a data service on their licensed frequency.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

RW: Can you expand on the implications?

Schmid: The ability to clone a software-based air chain is disruptive.

Where fixed-purpose boxes require down time for repair or firmware updates,
a broadcaster can apply new software updates and features by cloning a new standby air chain, updating, then testing the final on-air product using a spare transmitter, and then switching over before retiring the old air
chain.

Fleet upgrades are a breeze. IT security is greatly improved; should your
air chain become compromised, fix the attack vector, ditch the compromised
air chain, revert to the last safe restore point.

Fixed-purpose boxes cannot be easily replicated and are no safer. In fact, malicious actors can hide in embedded systems without your knowledge. Our solution is incorporating state-of-the-art encryption and authentication to guarantee an uncompromised encoder to transmitter connection even across
the public internet.

RW: What new products does Nautel offer that build on these concepts?

Schmid: Nautel is fully invested in this disruptive vision. We are aligning
our existing transmitter portfolio to this new architecture and will
back-port it to already shipped Nautel transmitters ready to convert to HD Radio tomorrow. As we head towards the NAB Show we’ll be adding Telos Alliance Omnia software audio processing options to the HD MultiCast+, our current software-based importer/exporter, which is already unique in the industry by way of its optional hardware-based audio processing. This is a first step towards the larger vision.

Please attend our Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference presentation for
an in-depth look to fully understand the possibilities of this novel
approach. It’s called “A Cloud-Capable Synchronized Transport Architecture for FM and HD Radio Broadcasting,” on April 26 at 12:55 p.m.

The post A New FM+HD Radio Architecture appeared first on Radio World.

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