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Radio World

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NAB Asks FCC to Drop Cumulus Penalty

Posted: 28 Mar 2022 01:27 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/nab-asks-fcc-to-drop-cumulus-penalty

Photo: Getty Images/Jose Luis Pelaez Inc

The NAB is blowing the whistle on the way the FCC blew the whistle on
Cumulus Media.

The National Association of Broadcasters spoke up in defense of Cumulus in
an FCC enforcement case. Basically, NAB says the FCC is way overreacting.

As we’ve reported, Cumulus faces a $32,000 penalty in a case in Georgia involving EEO rules. In explaining why it chose to raise what might have
been a smaller fine, the FCC had criticized Cumulus broadly about its
habits including its “prior history of non-EEO rule violations.”

It listed a string of Cumulus FCC cases over 19 years involving political files, public inspection files, broadcasting phone conversations, tower fencing, antenna painting and false certification in a renewal application.
And it said the company’s “apparent disregard of the commission’s EEO rules
is particularly troubling.”

[Read our original story: FCC Has Harsh Words for Cumulus]

Now the NAB is urging the commission to rethink the case.

“The proposed penalty is unlawful and unjust,” the NAB wrote.

It argued that inadvertent mistakes should not lead to monetary penalties, especially big ones; and that in this instance Cumulus would be penalized unfairly for “understandable and inevitable human error.”

It also said the FCC should not consider prior violations “when there has been an intervening transfer of control, or when violations have occurred nearly two decades ago. As a general matter, it is unclear why violations
from a decade or more ago should be held against a licensee under any circumstances given normal personnel turnover and advancement and the probability that many or most licensees will eventually experience some
degree of human error,” NAB wrote.

NAB said there was no reason to believe there would have been any public
input about the stations’ annual EEO reports had they been uploaded on
time, and no basis for the conclusion that Cumulus’s administrative failure necessarily means the company failed to analyze its EEO programs.

“The violation in question — the failure to upload a report that the licensee had actually completed — should be treated as a minor violation
and subject to admonishment.” If the FCC insists on imposing a forfeiture despite the lack of public complaint or substantive harm, it asked the
agency to reduce rather than increase the penalty.

The association also urged the FCC “to apply a more balanced and reasonable approach to proposed forfeitures going forward.”

The post NAB Asks FCC to Drop Cumulus Penalty appeared first on Radio World.


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FCC Wants to Hire to Fight Pirate Radio

Posted: 28 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/fcc-wants-to-hire-to-fight-pirate-radio


The Federal Communications Commission under Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel
is asking Congress for money to fight pirate radio as well as for a
substantial increase in funding for FCC enforcement generally.

The commission’s total request to Congress for FY2023 budget authority is $526.4 million, up about 2.7% from what it is spending in 2022.

Within that total, it is seeking about $390.2 million for activities that
are paid for by regulatory fee collections, up about 4.3%. Most of the rest would be for managing its spectrum auctions program, down slightly from
last year.

The commission said that, since 1994, spectrum auctions have generated more than $233 billion for government use, at a total cost of less than one
percent of that amount (see chart at bottom).

Illegal radio

The request includes $5 million to meet the requirements of the PIRATE Act
that became law two years ago. That money would include 15 new positions.

[Related: “Lack of Funding Hampers Pirate Enforcement” (Jan. 2021)]

“The PIRATE Act demonstrates that Congress views enforcement against pirate radio broadcasting as a priority,” the commission wrote to Congress.

“In addition to increasing the potential penalties for pirate broadcasting, the PIRATE Act imposes significant new responsibilities on the commission. Among other things, the PIRATE Act requires the commission to: (1) conduct annual enforcement sweeps in the top five radio markets; (2) conduct
follow-up monitoring to determine whether pirate broadcasters identified in
the sweeps are still on the air; (3) publish a pirate radio broadcasting database that clearly identifies all licensed broadcasters operating in the
AM and FM bands and all pirate radio broadcasters; and (4) submit an annual report to Congress summarizing the commission’s implementation of the
PIRATE Act and enforcement activities in the prior fiscal year.

“Additionally, the PIRATE Act specifically provides that the commission
must conduct the annual sweeps without decreasing or diminishing its
regular pirate radio enforcement efforts. The budget includes an increase
of $5,000,000 to the base for the implementation of this legislation, which includes hiring 15 FTEs.”

For the Enforcement Bureau overall, the FCC seeks $48.2 million, an
increase of almost 25% over this year.

“Lean, accountable and efficient”

The agency in fact is asking for an overall increase in full-time job positions.

“In creating a lean, accountable and efficient commission that works for
the American people, the commission requests 1,600 Full Time Equivalents
(FTEs) funded by budget authority from regulatory fee offsetting
collections, spectrum auctions program, and other budget authorities
provided by the president and Congress,” it wrote.

“This FTE level is an increase of 128 from the FY 2022 estimated level of 1,472.”

The commission published a “Budget in Brief” that is available on its website (PDF).

Spectrum auction history

The chart below was included in the FCC’s budget request to Congress,
showing FCC spectrum auctions to date, with the amount garnered.


The post FCC Wants to Hire to Fight Pirate Radio appeared first on Radio
World.


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Survey Says Media Consumption Trends Upwards

Posted: 28 Mar 2022 08:48 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/programming-and-sales/survey-says-media-consumption-trends-upwards


This story is part of a week-long series where author Tom Vernon breaks
down the newly-released Infinite Dial report, which gives insights into
various aspects of radios modern competitive environment and consumer consumption habits. 

Despite the social, economic and political turmoil that has wracked this country for the past 24 months, media consumption has continued to
increase. That, according to research from  The Infinite Dial 2022. 

Whats changed this year, according to the survey, is that Americans have started to go back to work and school. This is a significant influence on
the 2022 numbers. Edison Research SVP Tom Webster presented this years
findings onstage at the Podcast Movement: Evolutions event in Los Angeles
last week.

[Subscribe to Radio World]

The survey suggests that the growth in media and technology has been a
driving force behind digital audio. Much of that growth has been on the
coat tails of smartphone adoption. That number, according to Edisons
research, appears to be at saturation with 88 percent of the U.S.
population, or 252 million Americans owning these devices — the same as
last year.
The Infinite Dial 2022 report. Graph detailing smartphone ownership.

Also seeming to hit a plateau is tablet ownership, up just two percentage points from last year at 53 percent. Edisons research suggests that smart speaker ownership may also have hit the saturation point. Growing steadily since their introduction in 2017, this years growth  is just two percentage points over 2021, at 35 percent of the population, or 100 million. Taken by itself, this number may be misleading, as those who own a smart speaker can always purchase more of the devices, contributing to their growth. 
The Infinite Dial 2022 report. Graph detailing tablet ownership.

When looking at the data for numbers of smart speakers in a household, the research suggests a trend towards ownership of more than one device.
Starting in 2018, the numbers claimed that 67 percent of owners had one, 22 percent had two, and just 11 percent had three or more smart speakers. Fast forward to 2022, where just 41 percent own a single device, 26 percent own
two, and 33 percent owning three or more.
The Infinite Dial 2022 report. Graph detailing smart speaker ownership.

When ownership is ranked by brand, the research suggests that Amazon Alexa
is the clear winner, with 23 percent of those owning smart speakers. Google Nest is a distant second with 11 percent, and Apple Home Pod is an even
more distant third with just two percent. It may be approaching the point
where Alexa and smart speaker may become synonymous.

In January of 2022, Edison Research conducted telephone interviews with
1,502 respondents age 12 and older. They were selected via Random Digit
Dial (RDD) sampling through both landline phones and mobile phones. The
survey was offered in both Spanish and English. Data was weighted to
national 12+ U.S. population estimates.

The post Survey Says Media Consumption Trends Upwards appeared first on
Radio World.


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WSHR Installs Ecreso FM 5 kW Transmitter

Posted: 28 Mar 2022 02:00 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/buyers-guide/wshr-installs-ecreso-fm-5-kw-transmitter


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.

WSHR(FM) on Long Island in New York recently deployed a new 5 kilowatt transmitter manufactured by Ecreso, part of WorldCast Systems.

The noncommercial educational station is licensed to Sachem Public Schools
in Lake Ronkonkoma and is operated largely by students. It takes a
professional approach and broadcasts a CHR format.

Around 2020, Sachem began an RFQ process for a new 5 kilowatt transmitter.
WSHR General Manager and Chief Broadcast Engineer Mark Laura said he wanted
a transmitter that could operate in a somewhat harsh environment and
offered good redundancy, preferably with a good built-in audio processor
too.
WSHR General Manager and Chief Broadcast Engineer Mark Laura

“Our station is in a very competitive market and it’s a very important asset to our school district,” he said.

Laura had seen the Ecreso 10 kW FM transmitters at an NAB Show. “I liked
the amplifiers’ clean, planar design and the hot-swappable components for easy maintenance. You could see the quality in the circuit design and the transmitter’s overall construction.”

He eventually settled on the Ecreso 5 kW Full Redundancy version for WSHR’s transmitter project, with dual exciters and extra power supplies to
maximize uptime.

The transmitter was delivered before the new building was ready, and a replacement power input panel was shipped to accommodate the 208V three
phase at the site (European 3 phase is 380V).

[Read More Buyers Guide Reviews Here]

WorldCast Systems’ Tony Peterle joined Mark Laura and his team in November 2021 to assist with the installation. They swapped out the power panel and connected it to the mains in about 40 minutes. Total installation time was about one hour.

Laura says the students, community residence, school administration and
board members have noticed improved signal quality and coverage.

“We had a few storms and some fluctuation in power due to high winds but
the transmitter handled everything like a champ, he said. I was very happy
(and relieved) to see how well our Ecreso transmitter functioned.”

The transmitter is much more energy efficient than their old one, he said. Sachem may choose to test the Ecreso Smart FM technology for additional
savings on power costs.

Laura also appreciates the built-in audio processing and RDS encoder, and
said the embedded website makes it easy to control from his office on the
other side of campus.

Contact channels for WorldCast Systems can be found on the companys website.

The post WSHR Installs Ecreso FM 5 kW Transmitter appeared first on Radio World.


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DAB+ Launch Set for Gold Coast

Posted: 27 Mar 2022 07:00 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/global/dab-launch-set-for-gold-coast


The sixth-largest urban center in Australia will gain new digital radio
options on Apr. 4 when nine new commercial stations go on air via DAB+ in
Gold Coast, Queensland, according to Commercial Radio Australia.

Gold Coast will be the 10th city in Australia to launch DAB+. ARN and
Southern Cross Austereo plan to launch new stations for the DAB+ multiplex,
and the market’s existing stations Sea FM, Triple M and Hot Tomato will simulcast on DAB+ and FM.

“As a successful early adopter of the digital radio spectrum, we are delighted that Gold Coast listeners will now be able to access new DAB+ stations from the Hit and Triple M family,” said SCA CEO Grant Blackley. “DAB+ offers a higher quality listening experience and, for SCA, the
ability to increase our audience in southeast Queensland.”

[Read More Global Radio News Here]

“Were excited to be able to elevate the current FM listening experience
onto the DAB+ spectrum, but beyond that, given that the Gold Coast is Australias sixth largest city with one of the fastest growing economies in
the country, it presents a significant opportunity for national advertisers
to connect with an audience at scale,” said ARN Regional COO Michael Harvey.

DAB+ receivers are widespread in Australian automobiles; 78% of all new vehicles sold in the country last year were fitted with DAB+ as standard.

DAB+ launched in Brisbane, Queensland, in 2009 as part of the initial
rollout of the technology to Australia. Located about 45 miles north of
Gold Coast, Brisbane DAB+ signals have had some limited reach into the
northern part of the Gold Coast market.



The post DAB+ Launch Set for Gold Coast appeared first on Radio World.

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