XPost: alt.radio.broadcasting

Radio World

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WorldCast to Show New RDS Server in Vegas

Posted: 24 Mar 2022 07:00 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/products/worldcast-to-show-new-rds-server-in-vegas


WorldCast Systems has released a new product that it says facilitates the management of RDS and other metadata while remaining easy to use with any
type of encoder network or delivery system. 

“The offering is centered around a new software product called the Audemat RDS Server. It is designed to collect data from automation software,
satellite receivers, local web servers or even the internet, and it offers almost infinite content possibilities,” the company states. It will exhibit it at the NAB Show.

Broadcasters can distribute advertising content, weather and breaking news. Aggregating, processing and distributing data in UECP to a fleet of up to
500 RDS encoders and other delivery devices is made easier. 



“The RDS Server can deliver promotional content to be displayed directly on the RDS, synchronized with the broadcast content, to enhance the value to advertisers.” The company says radio stations can develop new sources of income and increase audience loyalty thanks to rich and personalized
content.

The RDS Server integrates with any encoder brand but it is designed to integrate into a WorldCast Systems ecosystem. The Audemat RDS Encoder
completes the server by converting data into an accurate digital signal. It
is also compatible with Ecreso FM transmitters, which come with RDS
encoders, to receive RDS server data using ASCII text. 

“While getting the most out of their RDS data, broadcasters can also
monitor, collect and centralize the data from their UECP streams and other sources with WorldCast’s NMS software, Kybio.”

WorldCast NAB Booth: W7413



The post WorldCast to Show New RDS Server in Vegas appeared first on Radio World.


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Broadcasters on High Alert for Cyber Attacks

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 02:16 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/broadcasters-on-high-alert-for-cyber-attacks


Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is placing American broadcasters on the front line of cybersecurity warfare, according to a communiqué from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.

The state broadcast group emailed its members Wednesday about possible
looming cybersecurity threats. “The MAB advises all Michigan broadcasters
to assume they remain a high-profile target subject to cyber attacks,” the notification from MAB said.

The United States government earlier this week again issued warnings to all American companies about potential threats tied to the current political climate with Russia. It cited intelligence that shows Russia is exploring options for potential cyberattacks targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, according to MAB.

“In recent weeks, Russian state-run media has been hacked multiple times. Theres no reason the reverse couldnt happen here,” MAB noted in the email sent by Dan Kelly, director of technical services. “Even without this warning, many broadcasters both large and small have been plagued by cybercriminal issues over the past year.”

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The U.S. government recommends eight key steps that all businesses should
take immediately to protect themselves from any pressing cyber threat, according to MAB. The group shared the following tips, advising all broadcasters to give them careful review to reduce cyber vulnerabilities:

Mandate the use of multi-factor authentication for all computer/system
logins to make it harder for attackers to get onto your system.
Deploy modern security tools on your computers and devices to continuously
look for and mitigate threats (virus software, security updates).
Check with your cybersecurity professionals to make sure that your systems
are patched and protected against all known vulnerabilities, and change passwords across your networks so that previously stolen credentials are useless to malicious actors.
Back up your data and ensure you have offline backups beyond the reach of malicious actors.
Run exercises and drill your emergency plans so that you are prepared to respond quickly to minimize the impact of any attack. MAB notes this is especially important for broadcasters in the case of an on-air signal
getting hacked.
Encrypt your data so it cannot be used if it is stolen.
Educate your employees to common tactics that attackers will use over email
or through websites, and encourage them to report if their computers or
phones have shown unusual behavior, such as unusual crashes or operating
very slowly.
Engage proactively with your local FBI field office or CISA Regional Office
to establish relationships in advance of any cyber incidents. Please
encourage your IT and Security leadership to visit the websites of the FBI
and CISA where they will find technical information and other useful
resources.


The National Association of Broadcasters also has various cybersecurity resources available online for radio and television broadcasters.

The post Broadcasters on High Alert for Cyber Attacks appeared first on
Radio World.


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Crowdfunding Boosts Shortwave to Eastern Europe

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 01:52 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/crowdfunding-boosts-shortwave-to-eastern-europe

An aerial view of the WRMI shortwave facility from its website.

Saying it has received strong public support, the grassroots crowdfunding campaign Shortwaves for Freedom this week announced additional shortwave
radio broadcasts to Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other parts of Eastern
Europe.

The broadcasts consist of rebroadcast content from Voice of America (VOA)
and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). The content is in the public domain and available for unauthorized reuse, the campaign said.

“We quickly raised enough money from our online appeal to start funding transmissions last Tuesday to the region from a private FCC-licensed
shortwave station in Florida and from early this week we are expanding broadcasts from commercial stations outside the United States,” said Kate Neiswender, a California lawyer and spokesperson for the campaign.

The private U.S. shortwave station that Neiswinder referred to is WRMI
Radio Miami International in Okeechobee, Fla., which is owned and operated
by longtime shortwave enthusiast Jeff White.

According to Shortwaves for Freedom, reception of the initial WRMI
broadcast have been confirmed in the targeted countries. They are being
sent via the station’s 100,000-watt transmitters beaming to Eastern Europe.

“We sell airtime for $60 per hour,” said White. “The reach is very good at
certain hours into Eastern Europe on the two frequencies we currently use:
7780 and 15770 kHz.”

As strong as WRMI’s signals are, the additional non-U.S. shortwave transmitters “will put a stronger shortwave signal into the target region
and add medium-wave,” said Gerhard Straub. He is former director of USAGM’s Broadcast Technologies Division and one of the experts advising Shortwaves
for Freedom on their broadcast options.

Shortwaves for Freedom said it has raised more than $18,000 from individual donors through its FundRazr campaign, which is 180% over its initial
$10,000 goal.

The money is being used to purchase airtime on commercial shortwave
stations, whose targeted broadcasts can reach large areas from great
distances, such as Eastern Europe from Florida. In addition to Russian and English language programs from VOA and RFE/RL, the group plans to fund Ukrainian language programs to reach Ukrainians.

Shortwaves for Freedom’s VOA and RFE/RL broadcasts are not backed by the United States Agency for Global Media, the parent group of those media
outlets.

Nor is the VOA planning to add shortwave broadcasts to this region.

“Our research indicates there are few shortwave sets in use in that part of the world, so it’s not in our current plan to add SW broadcasts,” said Bridget Ann Serchak, the VOA’s director of public relations. “However, we have begun a satellite TV station to provide additional content for eastern Europe and are exploring other methods of transmission.”

This argument doesn’t sit well with Straub, who is knowledgeable about the VOA’s broadcast capabilities and its target audiences.

“In times of crisis if the content is compelling, the audience will go
where they know the information is,” he said.

Given that the Putin regime has cut off Russia’s access to western online news media, it seems likely that some Russians who still have old receivers
are bound to dust them off, tune in and share that information with others,
as they did during the height of the Cold War. Meanwhile, the addition of medium-wave will allow people with conventional AM/FM radios to hear the broadcasts.

“We hope USAGM will realize the dire need for radio broadcasts at a time of war when millions of people have been cut off from the internet and
credible TV news due to censorship by Russia, the destruction of
infrastructure and their homes,” said Neiswender. “Until the U.S. government decides to adequately return to radio — both shortwave and medium-wave or “AM radio” — we will fund transmissions as long as we have money.”

Here is the current schedule for Shortwaves for Freedom’s SW broadcasts to Eastern Europe; the times are in UTC, a 24-hour clock four hours ahead of
EDT:

02:00-04:00 UTC Radio Svoboda (RFE/RL Russian): 7780 kHz (SW)

18:00-19:00 UTC Radio Svoboda: 1395 kHz (MW)

19:00-20:00 UTC Radio Svoboda: 9370 kHz (SW)

19:30-20:00 UTC ‘Flashpoint Ukraine’ (VOA English): 15770 kHz (SW, Monday-Friday)

Shortwaves for Freedom says it is not affiliated with any government, political, corporation organization or special-interest group and that all funds received go to pay for broadcast transmissions.

The post Crowdfunding Boosts Shortwave to Eastern Europe appeared first on Radio World.


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DRM: Potential to Save Millions as Energy Crisis Bites

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 01:09 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/guest-commentaries/drm-potential-to-save-millions-as-energy-crisis-bites


The author is sales and business development manager for Ampegon Power Electronics AG. This guest commentary is part of a series by or about
Digital Radio Mondiale.

Paul Firth, Commercial Director, Radio for Encompass Digital Media, has a
major headache: recently OFGEM, the UK government regulator for the
country’s privatized gas and electricity markets, authorized energy
companies to lift their maximum price caps. This aims to stave off a
predicted wave of bankruptcies among such companies as the European energy crisis bites at the end of winter. At time of writing, twenty-nine such companies have already gone bust trying to bridge the gap between their
costs and the maximum amount they are permitted to charge by OFGEM.

This means that, from 1st April 2022, energy prices in the UK could jump by
up to 100% overnight. While consumers with fixed price contracts will
remain protected until the end of their term, contracts will certainly not
be renewed at current prices.

This presents a significant headache for Encompass Digital Media, which operates the shortwave broadcasting station at Woofferton, Herefordshire,
in the rolling countryside of western England. The station broadcasts the
BBC World Service along with a host of other content from international broadcasters.

Paul Firth explains: “We are currently in negotiations with our energy supplier to agree on terms for electricity over the coming years. We run
nine 250kW shortwave transmitters, one 500kW, and ancillary equipment, such
as cooling, at Woofferton. The transmitters alone use about 14 million kWh
each year broadcasting content for our customers, and our energy costs
account for a significant chunk of our operating costs: millions of pounds annually. Our supplier has indicated that our tariff will increase by 82%, which is astonishing. These energy costs immediately destroy our
profitability and will force us to rethink our entire operating model.”
A view of the shortwave broadcasting station at Woofferton in western
England.

Paul’s problems do not stop there: he faces similar problems overseas. Encompass Digital Media operates a further four transmitter stations of
similar power: in Singapore, Oman, Cyprus and on Ascension Island. In
today’s globalized marketplace, wholesale energy price fluctuations are
felt everywhere: it is assumed that almost every broadcaster in the world
will soon be looking at their rising energy bills with concern.

How does Paul see the future? “Well, it’s becoming increasingly urgent that we move to more efficient means of broadcasting. Most of our energy costs
are associated with our transmitters, so we’re going to have to modernize
and find a way of becoming more efficient: we will need to reduce energy
and heat loss, reduce our output power, and embrace new broadcasting technologies such as DRM.”

The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) consortium launched an online energy efficiency tool in 2021, which is freely available. The tool estimates how
much energy transmitters need for analog broadcasting and compares this to
the energy requirements for DRM broadcasts. Any efficiency loss is more
than compensated for by the reduced power needed for DRM transmissions. In-built digital error correction means that a lower signal-to-noise ratio
is required for crystal clear reception in digital, and in turn this also
means that transmitters can be run at reduced power. In DRM shortwave and medium wave bands, there is no need for an analog AM carrier – which
accounts for up to 66% of the energy requirement and contains no data. That
is why significant energy and cost savings are expected in DRM for all but
the smallest broadcasters.

Guido Leisker, based at Germany’s Fraunhofer IIS Institute, one of the key DRM consortium members, met with Paul to examine the savings possible if Encompass Digital Media upgraded their transmitters to DRM. Using the
online tool, Guido could quickly input details about Encompass’s Woofferton transmitters, their energy price, and some operational parameters.
Another view of the shortwave broadcasting station at Woofferton in western England.

Within minutes, the tool delivered its verdict: potentially, on his current energy contract Paul could expect to save some 6’500’000 kWh (or 44.6% of the energy) annually. The savings: almost £750,000 (/$1.01M) each and every year.

Paul reacted with astonishment: “That’s incredible. I know that our transmitters are power-hungry but seeing it in print really hammers home
the point. And this is just the transmitters at one site: our total running costs would come down by millions of pounds if we upgraded our entire network.” But there was a further surprise: these calculations used Encompass’s previous energy rates.

[Read More Guest Commentaries Here]

Guido then entered the new energy price into the tool, 82% higher by now,
and the potential savings jumped: “£1.3M [/$1.75M]? That is astonishing. To see the actual savings, we could generate year on year is a powerful demonstration of the impact DRM can have. That is a significant proportion
of our annual operating budget,” exclaimed Paul. “If energy costs are forecast to rise continually over the next decade, the future of
broadcasting is clear: whoever’s most efficient will be the most competitive.”

However, Paul sees an issue: too few affordable DRM receivers available for listeners to buy.

Guido addressed this point: “The DRM consortium has stakeholders involved
in establishing supply chains to provide DRM receivers in large numbers
into global markets. Manufacturers in India, China, Korea, and Switzerland
are simply waiting for orders. Chipset suppliers are ready. The technology
is ready. The car industry is already reacting in markets with DRM
broadcasts, with over 4.5 million vehicles in India already equipped with
DRM radio receivers.”

The big question comes: how much does a DRM receiver cost?

Guido answers: “The question will always come back: how many do you need?
If you buy ten units, they are expensive as production relies upon costly small-batch production techniques. If you order tens of thousands of units, enough for significant penetrations of a country’s market, they can be mass-manufactured at a very low price.”

Indeed, recently Cambridge Consultants/CML of the UK announced that they
now have a fully functional DRM chipset offering all the benefits of DRM
for as little as $8 if bought in sufficient quantities.

This is all music to Paul’s ears: “If this technology allows us to save millions of pounds of operating costs and millions of kilowatt hours of
energy every year, our broadcasts will become cheaper and greener. If the
only missing piece is somebody ordering enough receivers for people to buy,
we should start thinking about upgrading our infrastructure tomorrow.”

Any broadcaster can access the DRM energy efficiency calculation tool, free
of charge, simply by contacting the DRM consortium accessing. This allows confidential, broadcaster-specific analysis for FM, MW or SW transmitter networks, calculating savings potential simply by switching to DRM.

Radio World invites industry-oriented commentaries and responses. Send to
Radio World.

The post DRM: Potential to Save Millions as Energy Crisis Bites appeared
first on Radio World.


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SBE Mentor Program Continues to Flourish

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/sbe-mentor-program-continues-to-flourish


Making mentoring a priority within its organization, the Society of
Broadcast Engineers announced it reached a milestone, connecting more than
100 professional mentors and mentees.

The SBE Mentor Program was launched in October 2016 to connect new
broadcast engineers with seasoned professionals so that empirical and
practical knowledge can be shared.

“We are proud to involve so many in this effort and hope to continue to
reach the next generation of broadcast and multimedia technologists as this program grows,” said Mentor Committee Chair Chris Tarr. “This is a remarkable milestone.”

Under the program, partnerships are entered into for the length of one year
but they can be extended, with mentors and mentees establishing a schedule
that works best for the pair. Some mentors in the program are counseling
more than one mentee, with 49 mentors and 60 mentees participating as of
March 2022.

The SBE Mentor Program grew when the SBE began its Technical Professional Training Program in 2021. There are currently 29 mentees in that program as well.

[See Our News and Business Page]

The SBE continues to increase its focus on broadcast and multimedia
technology education programs, and the SBE Mentor Program is just one of
many undertakings to achieve this goal, said SBE President Andrea Cummis.

For those looking to participate, the SBE said that mentors are needed from both the radio and television industries. More information can be found
online or by contacting SBE Education Director Cathy Orosz at
corosz@sbe.org.

The post SBE Mentor Program Continues to Flourish appeared first on Radio World.


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"Right on, Larry!" - Readers Respond on AM Quality

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 12:00 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/readers-forum/right-on-larry-readers-respond-on-am-quality

Getty Images/LeshkaSmok

The following letters are in response to Larry Langfords commentary “Time
to Come Clean on AM Quality” in which he wrote, “Someone explain to me why radio manufacturers still have not accommodated the NRSC standard.”
Road to obsolescence

So I’m not the only one wondering. Larry’s questions regarding AM quality have been rolling around in my head since 1973 when I bought my first new
car. It had an AM/FM tuner, and my AM station sounded horrible. I took the
car to the dealer, they replaced the tuner and it still sounded terrible. A year later a purchase of the same model with an AM-only tuner, and it
sounded pretty good.

Fast forward to 1984 when my wife buys a Jeep with an AM stereo radio. The audio was awful until it got a stereo signal and the bandwidth strangely improved. My father-in-law’s Oldsmobile had an AM stereo tuner that when receiving AM stereo sounded as good as FM.

We’ve been whining about AM’s decline and yet haven’t fixed the reasons. Even Larry has adapted an FM translator to put a Band-Aid on his AM’s problems.

There’s enough technology to cure 99% of AM’s problems but no one has given manufacturers a reason to do so. Broadcast radio seems to be on a path to making its existence obsolete until someone steps up to address and cure
its problems.

Larry’s questions and the answers would be a great start. Then we can go after the commercial load.

Dave Mason


“Right On, Larry!”

Larry Langford had me giving him fist pumps and yelling “Right on, Larry!” As a big fan of AM who has served in senior engineering and marketing posts
for three radio manufacturers over the years, I offer some insights into
the lagged response to the “new” 30-year-old NRSC standards for AM radios:

Marketing: Predicting acceptance for any “new and improved” product is very risky for the pioneers. Is there a driving force for the new product? A
wrong decision can bankrupt. Radio makers watched the rise of FM throughout
the 1960s. With the availability of FM car converters and AM/FM table
radios, listeners welcomed static-free reception and extended fidelity of
FM, and they turned away from AM. Many AMs switched to voice programming of news, talk and sports, or went dark for lack of revenue. AM stereo came
along right after the music horse escaped the barn. Don’t need stereo HiFi for voice. That was a cautionary tale for radio manufacturers. Why make a high-quality AM radio if consumers are turning away from it?

Cost: Modern radios aren’t the venerable All American Five hand-wired sets
of the 1950s. They’re based on ASICs combining RF-through-audio functions
for OTA terrestrial and satellite reception, including display, audio EQ, analog and digital flavors, internet connectivity and sometimes other
non-radio dashboard functions. These are seriously complicated chips
costing millions to design and develop, debug, redesign and manufacture in forecast quantity. There’s serious financial risk involved. Given the tremendous investment in these chips, chip designers are reluctant to
invest in improving the AM corner of the ASIC real estate. AM performance
in new cars is notoriously bad. Some engineers have deduced the AM function
is a jam-fit into the FM demodulator, leaving AM a bastard stepchild. Then there was AM IBOC, another listener, investment and regulatory disaster.
Time will tell whether digital AM ever comes to fruition or also flops for
lack of consumer interest.

Sabotage: Can’t name names here, but “reliable sources” over the years report heavy lobbying efforts by the satellite and internet streaming
interests to the car and car radio manufacturers to downgrade terrestrial
AM and FM radio quality in favor of satellite and internet reception. Money talks; they seemed to have listened.

Will we ever see NRSC audio response from consumer radios? Possibly, if
there is a renaissance of interest in the AM broadcasting service in the
U.S. That will take a reinvention of live-and-local programming to deserve audience attention and rebuild AM’s popularity for new generations of listeners. Stay tuned.

James B. Potter, Radio Engineer, Kimberling City, Mo.


It’s not the radios

Larry Langford asks why, since we now have the NRSC standard that allows
for wide-bandwidth FM, do we have manufacturers continuing to make radios
with severely restricted bandwidth.

The answer is simple, sad and depressing. In many if not most areas, the
noise floor on the AM band is so high that bandwidth restriction is
necessary to make stations listenable.

I have an AA5 radio in my office with the wide response that was typical of radios in the 1950s, and I can receive nothing but trash across the band in either day or night. If I take that same radio home to a more rural
location, I can hear AM stations clearly and cleanly from Cuba to Toronto.

Where is the noise from? Everything with a cheaply made switching supply in
it, which comes down to nearly every electronic device. Until the FCC
starts enforcing Part 15 regulations, and until there are tighter
regulations on noise applied by consumer devices to the power line, the AM
band is going to be a mess.

It’s not the broadcasters, it’s not the radios. It’s every cellphone charger, every LED light, every laptop power supply that will doom AM.

Scott Dorsey

[Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.]

The post Right on, Larry! Readers Respond on AM Quality appeared first on Radio World.


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KMJ Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 09:31 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/roots-of-radio/kmj-celebrates-its-100th-anniversary

Archival photo of young Shirley Roberts on KMJ in 1944 (read about her
family history by clicking the image).

KMJ has turned 100.

Dozens of U.S. radio stations have hit their centennials in recent months, recalling the period in the early 1920s when the modern radio industry was born.

KMJ(AM) in Fresno, Calif., is the latest. The station today is owned by
Cumulus Media and airs news/talk. Whereas some radio stations seem to run
away from any on-air discussion of old formats or prior owners, KMJ is
going to celebrate its anniversary all year. Plans include a documentary
and a concert.

“KMJ began broadcasting on March 23, 1922, and is the 38th oldest licensed and continually operating radio station in America,” Cumulus said in a
press release.

“Over the past 100 years of broadcasting, KMJ has provided listeners in Fresno and California’s Central Valley with news, current events, music, sports, religion, drama, comedy and most importantly, public service. Originally owned by the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation, KMJ was
later acquired by the McClatchy Newspaper Company in 1925 and has seen a handful of owners in the past century.”

[Related: “A Look Back at the Radio Newspaper of the Air.” ]

Today it is heard on regional frequency 580 kHz with 50 kW and a
directional antenna array (it is also heard on FM at as well as 105.9 MHz).

Cumulus noted that between 1925 and 1932, KMJ operated on a number of other frequencies. “Eventually KMJ moved to 580 kHz in 1932, operating with 1 kW non-directional from a building rooftop in downtown Fresno,” it said.

“At the outset of World War II, the Department of War selected KMJ as the primary medium for alerting Central California residents. It is still used for this purpose today as a primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System.”

VP and Market Manager Patty Hixson has been working there for more than
three decades, according to the press release. “I am truly grateful and humbled by the fact that I have been so blessed to serve our valued
listeners this is my home!” She highlighted the station’s work in the community and its “continued focus on relevant content, philanthropy and ethical business practices.”

PD Blake Taylor noted that the station “has covered everything from the Harding administration to the Biden White House. Terrible tragedies to inspirational triumphs and everything in between.”

See historical photos on the station website.

[Radio World’s Roots of Radio page has a selection of stories about the
early years of radio including “Constructing the First ‘Real’ Radio Station.”]

The post KMJ Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary appeared first on Radio World.


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Hulvey Offers Insight Into the Future of Commercial Radio

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 08:36 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/show-news/nab-show/hulvey-offers-insight-into-the-future-of-commercial-radio


The 2022 NAB Show begins April 23. Leading up to the event, we spoke with
Mike Hulvey, VP and COO with Neuhoff Communications and NAB Radio Board
member, to discuss expectations for the show and gain insight into the
future of the commercial radio industry.

Radio World: This is the first time the NAB Show will be back during the pandemic, what are you looking forward to and what do you think may have changed?

 Mike Hulvey: Heres whats going to happen: for the first 30 minutes of the first event, hugs. Lots of hugs. What has always been a great part of the
show is the networking, the opportunities and the conversations. In a lot
of cases, its been two-plus years since weve seen each other. Nothing
replaces being together in this space and I think the value of that has
only been elevated because of the pandemic.

Some of the changes are structural in terms of what the team has created.
We have three pillars around the show: Capitalize, Connect and Create. But
from the radio perspective, we have blended what used to be the Radio Show
into the NAB Show. When you look at the number of sessions that have been created, specifically for radio, what weve seen is that the programming has created a more robust schedule with more sessions geared towards radio than ever before.

[Related: NAB Show: Third Time’s the Charm]

RW: Any hopes/expectations of what you want to accomplish at the show?

Hulvey: I cant overstate the importance of the interaction with attendees
and vendors and members of the industry. That will be the one big piece of
take home pay, if you will, for attendees, and that is to be able to
actually have that interaction with individuals. Learning in the sessions
is always important, but that interaction in the hallways and the
networking opportunities — theres so much that comes of that.
Mike Hulvey, VP and COO with Neuhoff Communications

RW: Is there any technology youre planning on exploring while there?

Hulvey: The pandemic accelerated the inevitable. The things that were doing
now are things that we had planned to do before, but we were looking at
two, three, five years to the future — remote work, or streamlining processes, or utilizing technology in different ways. Well, thanks to the pandemic, that was a two week exercise and all of a sudden were operating
our radio stations in such different ways.

So, what Im interested in learning more about is whats next? From a vendor perspective, what has been learned from these applications, what
broadcasters had to do to survive? So, Im anxious to see what vendors have
to say about that.

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

RW: How has the commercial radio industry fared these past couple of years?

Hulvey: Were seeing a number of companies that report their revenue
nationally, where revenues are now back to where they were pre-pandemic.
Were seeing growth. Although, thats not the case everywhere. But heres the
one lesson that resonates everywhere in our industry, and thats the value
of local.

RW: For stations that made it through/thrived these past couple of years,
can you think of any common characteristics they shared?

Hulvey: Time and time again, if you think back or talk to local
broadcasters about what it was that helped them survive, what it was that connected them to the community, it was local connections, it was local communication, it was being a local service. And that is critical to the

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