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Radio World

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Ecreso FM Transmitters Receive Security Update

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 02:17 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/products/worldcast-systems-introduces-new-security-feature-to-ecreso-transmitters

This month, WorldCast Systems announced a new security feature in its
Ecreso FM transmitter range to protect from cyberattacks.
With the latest version of Ecreso FM transmitters (1.10.1), the security
policy on the FTP access has been improved to limit the risk of
cyberattacks on the transmitter. As a result, only one user account, with a reinforced password, is now available and limited to audio file management. According to the broadcast solutions company, this update is the first milestone of a global approach to integrate advanced security features into
the transmitters and help customers protect their broadcast chain from
network attacks.
David Houze, Ecreso product manager, said WorldCast products are designed
to lower operating expenses for broadcasters and maximize transmitter
uptime. He said the new security feature implemented into the Ecreso FM transmitter range reflects these core values.”
Per WorldCast Systems, by preventing cyberattacks, broadcasters can
maintain their on-air time, ensure optimal performance of their equipment,
and avoid unnecessary costs relating to system recovery and downtime.
With the rise in new trends impacting the broadcast infrastructure, many devices initially designed for closed networks, such as RDS encoders or FM transmitters, are now directly exposed to public internet networks, said WorldCast Systems in its press release. This makes them vulnerable to cyberattacks and can result in blocked access, program interruptions,
hacked content, and more. It is increasingly critical to protect broadcast equipment with new security features.
Ecreso transmitters are available in a number of power ranges, from 100W to 10kW.
To learn more, interested parties can contact WorldCast Systems or book a meeting with the team present at the NAB Show (Booth W7413).

The post Ecreso FM Transmitters Receive Security Update appeared first on
Radio World.


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iHeart Media Subsidiary Defends Decision to Halt Political Candidates Radio
Ads

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:13 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/iheart-media-subsidiary-defends-decision-to-halt-political-candidates-radio-ads


The Federal Communications Commission has made it clear that political time aired over broadcast airwaves is only available for bona fide, legally qualified candidates — a burden of proof that falls on the individual, especially one who claims to be a write-in candidate. 

An order released by the Media Bureau weighed in on the objection submitted
by an individual who said he was a viable candidate for elected office. 

Jim Condit Jr. submitted a complaint to the Media Bureau saying that two Cincinnati radio stations denied him reasonable access to the airwaves as a federal candidate. The complaint was filed against Citicasters Licenses
Inc. (which is owned by iHeartMedia) and is licensee to WKRC(AM) AND
WLW(AM). Condit approached the stations in September 2020 looking to air advertisements supporting his candidacy for the U.S. House of
Representatives in Ohio’s Second Congressional District. 

The stations commenced broadcasting Condit’s ads for about three weeks
before terminating them. This action led Condit to file an objection with
the FCC because, as he said, the radio stations’ owner censored Condit’s ads because they didn’t agree with the ads’ content. 

In his complaint, Condit said that the action is a violation of the Communications Act. In refusing to resume broadcasting his ads, Condit said
the stations were denying him reasonable access to broadcast airwaves as a federal candidate. 

The rules laid out in the Communications Act regarding political speech are clear — commercial broadcast stations must sell reasonable amounts of broadcast time on behalf of legitimate candidates for federal offices. The
act also clearly spells out that broadcast stations may not censor the
messages of legally qualified candidates. These censorship protections give
a legally qualified candidate the right to reasonable access.

In a response to the Media Bureau, however, Citicasters said that Condit
had not met that important standard — that of a legally qualified candidate.

The FCC Rules define a “legally qualified candidate” in the following ways: an individual seeking election who has publicly announced his or her
intention to run for office, an individual qualified to hold the office for which they are a candidate, and an individual that has qualified for a
place on the ballot or have publicly committed themselves to seeking
election by the write-in method. 

In cases where the write-in method is used, that individual must
substantially show that they are a bona fide candidate for the office being sought. The term “substantial showing” means there is evidence that the person claiming to be a candidate has engaged in activities usually
associated with political campaigning.

According to Condit’s complaint, he publicly announced his attention to run for Congress in July 2020. Then in August, Condit submitted a declaration
of intent to be a write-in candidate and paid the requisite fee. The board
of elections identified Condit as a write-in candidate and soon after, he approached staff at the two stations and requested to purchase time as a political candidate, providing information in support of his qualifications.

Citcasters said that sales staff accepted Condit’s request to purchase time on its radio stations in the good faith belief that he was a legally
qualified candidate entitled to reasonable access. But after broadcasting
his ads for about three weeks, Citicasters suspended the airing of the ads
and asked Condit to provide additional evidence to show he had made a substantial showing of his candidacy. 

Station staff became concerned that he was not — and never had been — a legally qualified candidate. According to Citicasters, it appeared from information on his website, a speech from an Internet interview and from
the ads themselves that that he had no genuine intention of seeking public office.

To resolve those questions, Citicasters asked Condit to provide additional information showing he had engaged, to a substantial degree, in activities commonly associated with political campaigning. 

[See Our Business and Law Page]

After reviewing the answers Condit provided, Citicasters determined he had
not made enough of a substantial showing and was not a legally qualified candidate for federal office.

Condit contends that the stations’ decision to suspend broadcast of his ads is censorship as well as a violation of the reasonable access requirements
of the Communications Act. He also claims that Citicasters stopped
broadcasting his messages because of the content and they required him to produce additional information about his candidacy as a pretense. He said
he provided ample information to prove he was a legally qualified
candidate, including making campaign speeches and distributing campaign literature. 

But Citicasters came to believe that Condit had no genuine intention of
seeking public office. Station management began to suspect that he had
instead set out to exploit the rules of the Communications Act by what Citicasters called “a sham political campaign through which he could gain access to the airwaves for the purpose of spreading his beliefs to a vast audience.” 

For example, the station found a page on his web site that was devoted to
the Communications Act’s reasonable access law. According to Citicasters, “[the] complainant also reveals his motives on his website” where he describes a “little known strategy [where] almost anyone can run for
Congress for as little as $100.” That strategy can be used to get “real information to normal Americans over big TV and radio stations.”
Citicasters also said that Condit’s alleged campaign was being used to disseminate his views well beyond the Congressional district he was trying
to represent. 

The station owners said they re-applied the write-in requirement to the information Condit provided and concluded he had not made a substantial
showing of “bona fide candidacy.” Among the claims: none of the locations at which Condit made speeches were located in Ohio’s second Congressional district and most of the activities that Condit claims to have participated
in were not related to his campaign at all. Also, he did not provide any details regarding how his meetings or conference calls related to his candidacy, he failed to demonstrate that he had distributed campaign
literature to a significant degree, he had not issued any press releases,
he failed to maintain a campaign committee, and his campaign headquarters
were located outside of the Ohio district in which he was running. 

“Citicasters further asserts in this regard that an individual claiming to
be a legally qualified write-in candidate bears the burden of demonstrating
his or her bona fides, and, in this instance, Mr. Condit failed to do so,” the bureau said in its order. 

For his part, Condit accused Citicasters of acting in bad faith by
suspending the broadcast of his ads and he took issue with the
broadcaster’s unilateral determination that he was not a legally qualified candidate. His said he helped organize more in-person events than his two opponents, that his radio ads served as in-person speeches and that he had committed dozens of hours into producing his radio ads.

He did, however, admit that he did not participate in Internet-based
meetings, did not engage in door-to-door campaigning or hand out literature because of COVID-19 restrictions and did not send out direct mailings
because they were too expensive.

The bureau reiterated in its order that an individual running for office
must satisfy three requirements in order to achieve the status of a legally qualified candidate: they must publicly announce their intention to run for office, they must be qualified to hold the office if elected and, if
running as a write-in candidate, must make a substantial showing of their
bona fide candidacy.

After weighing all the matters, the Media Bureau found that Condit was not
a legally qualified write-in candidate. As a result, he is not entitled to reasonable access and censorship protections. The bureau reiterated that
any individual claiming to be a legally qualified candidate by the write-in method bears the burden of demonstrating that he made a substantial showing
of a candidacy. “In this instance, Mr. Condit failed to do so,” the bureau said in its order. 

As a result, the bureau denied the complaint filed by Condit against Citicasters.


Susan Ashworth is the former editor of TV Technology and a long-time contributor to Radio World. She has served as editor-in-chief of two
housing finance magazines and written about topics as varied as
broadcasting, education, chess, music, sports and the connected home environment.

The post iHeart Media Subsidiary Defends Decision to Halt Political Candidate’s Radio Ads appeared first on Radio World.


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GatesAirs 100 Years of History in Pictures

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 10:23 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/roots-of-radio/gatesairs-100-years-of-history-in-pictures


 The author of this story is a representative of GatesAir.


GatesAir celebrates a rare business milestone this year as the company
turns 100. Founded in 1922, Gates Radio Company was established in Quincy, Illinois by Henry and Cora B. Gates and their son, Parker, who at 14 was
the company’s engineering visionary. Parker would later lead Gates Radio
and Supply Company, which was sold to Harris Intertype in 1957 and later
became a part of Harris Corporation. Shortly upon its divestiture from
Harris, the Gates family name was returned to the company in honor of its roots. This photo essay offers visual highlights spanning nearly all
decades of the company’s existence, many of which have never been published. In early 1929, Gates Radio moved across Washington Park to a three-story building at 115 North Fourth that gave the company more floor space and included an elevator. The first floor and mezzanine were office and display areas. Henry Gates sits at a desk on the right side of the room. At right standing is Clinton Norris, the first employee hired by Gates Radio; Parker Gates is at center. Gates equipment visible includes amplifiers with a
speaker on top at right, and a square headed microphone on the metal sewing table. That same year, a condenser microphone was added to the product
line, which had already grown to include transcription turntables and the Motio-tone, a system of 16-inch sound discs for motion pictures. (Picture provided by Janet Conover Gates)
In 1936, the industry’s first 250-watt broadcast transmitter was
manufactured by Gates Radio and sold to station WJMS-AM in Ironwood,
Michigan, for $2,750. The closest competition at the time was a 100-watt
model priced at $8,400. RCA and Western Electric had strong patents in the field, making Gates’ achievement all the more impressive. (Picture provided by Janet Conover Gates)
GatesAir opened this “annex” at 30th and Broadway in Quincy in 1953. Its largest plant to date, it was opened to accommodate the growing business
that had begun to outgrow its 124 Hampshire location, which opened in 1945. GatesAir historian John Schneider notes that both locations were closed
down in 1977, when the company moved all US operations to 3200 Wismann
Lane, which remains the company’s worldwide manufacturing headquarters. The 30th and Broadway location is today home to a CVS drug store. (Picture
provided by John Schneider)
An unknown Army Radio announcer broadcasts over a Gates Radio SA-40 console from KOLD studios in Thule, Greenland in 1955. The SA-40 was a nine-channel mono console manufactured from 1949 through the early 1950s. A Gates Radio 12-inch transcription turntable with a Grey Research tonearm is seen in the forefront. These turntables predated the 45rpm era, supporting 33 and 78 speeds. (Picture provided by John Schneider)
Parker Gates’ vision grew from a home-based family business to a global company with a corporate structure over the company’s first three decades. This image was from 1957, when they were acquired by Harris Intertype.
Company leadership in this 1957 photo: Bottom Row: A.S. Petzold, Parker
Gates, George Dively (president of Harris Intertype) and Lawrence J.
Cervone. Top: Norbert “Nibs” L. Jochem, Roger M. Veach, unknown, L.I. McEwen, and John Bowers. (Picture provided by John Schneider)
This 1950s-era photo shows an audience in front of a Gates Radio 20kW
shortwave transmitter. According to Geoff Mendenhall, who spent much of his broadcast career at Harris, the predecessor of GatesAir, in engineering leadership roles, high-power shortwave and medium wave were important components of GatesAir’s international growth. He recalls that the company won substantial international shortwave projects into the mid-1980s.
(Picture provided by John Schneider)
General manager Dave Morris (right) of Houston AM-FM station KNUZ was
presented Harris’ first Vanguard I transmitter in 1960s by a Texas-based Harris sales representative – curiously named London England. The Vanguard Series were 1kW AM transmitters available from 1966-1968. They used
low-level modulation and were considered all transistor designs with a
single tube – all considering engineering marvels for the time period. (Picture provided by Bob Weirather)
This 1950s Gates transmitter was originally installed at WMTM-AM in
Moultrie, GA. WJSB-AM (Crestview Broadcasting) purchased it in 1970 and modified it into a 5kw transmitter that remains operational today. (Picture provided by Cullen Zethmayr)
According to Bob Weirather, who spent 30 years at Harris in engineering and leadership roles, the 1970s was when the TV side of the business really
started to evolve. A Gates FM Series UHF transmitter is seen installed at WDCA-TV in Washington DC in 1971. Over subsequent decades, the TV business would grow and go global. The radio and TV business units work closer today than ever, and most of their transmitters share common high-efficiency
designs and parts. (Picture provided by Bob Weirather)
Hilmer Swanson (forefront) spent the final 35 years of his engineering
career with Gates Radio and Harris until his 1999 retirement. Chief among
his innovations were the industry’s first Pulse Duration Modulation AM and the first all-digital AM transmitter branded DX. Geoff Mendenhall, who
spent much of his broadcast career at Harris and GatesAir in engineering leadership roles, calls Swanson “the forefather of all modern, high-efficiency, AM modulation technologies and the giant among GatesAir’s legacy” of engineers. Swanson is pictured here in 1994 testing a 1,000,000 Watt DX AM radio transmitter, a transmitter line with digital modulation he innovated in 1987. GatesAir (then Harris) had shipped more than 1500 units worldwide by 2004, many of which remain in operation today. Dave Kerker, a longtime technician at Harris is seen in the background. (Picture provided
by John Schnieder)
GatesAir has continued to leverage efficiency improvements in solid-state technology to grow its Flexiva FM radio and Maxiva TV/DAB transmitters. The introduction of the Flexiva FLX transmitter in 2016 represented an
important new phase as an ultra-high-efficiency liquid-cooled transmitter
to serve higher power levels. WEBE in Bridgeport, CT was among the first to install an FLX transmitter. This picture was taken within weeks of being brought to air in 2017. At left is Dave Supplee of Cumulus Media, with
Peter Partineo of systems integration firm RES at right.
Never Forget: 9/11 was the most profound US tragedy of our lifetimes. Bob
Ross, a retired CBS Engineering executive, recalled that CBS lost two
employees and some transmitters when the towers fell. A 34-year old Harris
tube remained on the Empire State Building. “Harris brought in an original design engineer of that transmitter who had retired, and within one day
they machined and shipped parts so we could rebuild the cavity and return
to full power. That is customer service.” Current GatesAir Chief Revenue Officer Joe Mack shares that the company “threw out the playbook” for ordering transmitters to bring NYC broadcasters back to air quickly. This
photo shows the 1 World Trade Center transmitter room today, which includes GatesAir TV and Radio transmitters. From L to R: Mark Voorhees, Senior
Director of Sales, Key Accounts for GatesAir; John Byrne, Director of Engineering, CBS TV Stations; Jeff Birch, VP of Engineering, TV Stations; GatesAir’s Mack; Bruce Swail, CEO, GatesAir; and Richard Mulliner, Chief Engineer, WCBS-TV and WLNY-TV.
A recent image of the 3200 Wismann Lane office in Quincy featuring the
extended GatesAir family. Quincy remains the company’s main manufacturing center, and is where all TV and Radio transmitters are built and assembled today.

[Related: GatesRadio Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary]

The post GatesAirs 100 Years of History in Pictures appeared first on Radio World.


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GatesRadio Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 09:32 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/show-news/nab-show/gatesradio-celebrates-its-100th-anniversary

Gates Radio Company’s management team in the mid-1950s. President Parker S. Gates is seated at center, second from left.

The modern radio broadcast industry recently turned 100. At the NAB Show
this month, the descendant of one of the earliest radio technology
suppliers will celebrate its own centennial.

The company today known as GatesAir got its start when food products
specialist Henry Gates took his son Parker to visit the studios of KDKA in Pittsburgh during a business trip. “The experience left an impression on father and son, planting the seeds for a family-operated radio equipment company they would launch from their Quincy, Ill., home in 1922,” the firm wrote in a chronology.

Parker Gates was 14 at the time. He, his father Henry and his mother Cora
B. Gates founded the Gates Radio Company.

According to the chronology, the company sold its first AM radio
transmitter in 1936 to WJMS in Ironwood, Mich.

Transmission has always been a key focus. Through subsequent owners and business configurations, the company also has been involved in studio integrations, console manufacturing and sale of third-party dealer
products, but its focus today is in transmission and audio networking.

Harris Intertype Corp. purchased Gates Radio in 1957. It added TV
transmitters in 1972. In later acquired Intraplex, which made STL systems
and today specializes in audio over IP networking. For 18 years it also
owned Pacific Research & Engineering.

Among the company’s “firsts” during the Harris years were the broadcast industry’s first solid-state AM transmitter in 1973, digital FM exciter in 1993 and HD Radio exciter in 2003.

Harris Corp. sold its broadcast business to The Gores Group in 2012. In
2014, that broadcast business was divided into Imagine Communications and GatesAir, thus reviving the Gates name.

Bruce Swail was named CEO of GatesAir in 2017. “The spirit of innovation
from the company’s beginnings remains here today,” he said in the announcement. The manufacturer plans raffles at the NAB Show, including
crystal radio sets as prizes.

See our related post, “GatesAirs 100 Years of History in Pictures.”

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


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Exhibitor Preview: Yellowtec at the NAB Show

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 08:45 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/show-news/nab-show/exhibitor-preview-yellowtec-at-the-nab-show


With the NAB Show just around the corner, Radio World is asking exhibitors about their plans and expectations. Kathrin Nimpsch is the marketing
manager at Yellowtec.



Radio World: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend that radio professionals should be watching for at the 2022 NAB Show? Kathrin Nimpsch, marketing manager at Yellowtec

Kathrin Nimpsch: I don’t expect one particular technological development significantly outshining other trends. In my opinion, there will be many workflow optimizations shown that users of all kind will benefit from. It
has been a while since the last NAB Show took place. So I expect many, many adjustments that optimize operations on different kind of levels rather
than one complete shift within a certain area.

RW: What will be your most important product news or exhibit theme?

Nimpsch: Myself expecting a lot of workflow optimizations on all levels mirrors Yellowtec’s activities. Since the last face-to-face events and
shows have taken place, we have intensified our research and development by taking even more time to put ourselves in the shoes of different kind of
users. We focused on diving deeper into what diverse groups of users really need to go further.

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

RW: If you are introducing a new product or feature, how is it different
from what’s available on the market?

Nimpsch: There are going to be a lot of products being launched by
Yellowtec at events in the near future. What all of them have in common is
that they give any user a way to perform on a high professional level. No matter if their core business is broadcast or if audio is a side effect of their work, e.g. in terms of video calls or online meetings. There will be multiple never seen before solutions packed with features that will allow
in fact anyone involved in audio to be on top of their league.
Yellowtecs iXm Podcaster recording mic, just one of the products currently available for purchase

RW: How has the lack of physical trade shows for the past three years
affected your company’s clients or your own business?

Nimpsch: Within the last years, we obviously have noticed a shift from face-to-face gatherings to online business. On the one hand, this gave us
the awareness of all the groups of users that go for Yellowtec products.
Many people working with audio had to equip themselves with professional
audio solutions to work from home. Via the internet, we’ve been happy to
show them our professional solutions to do so. On the other hand, we look
so much forward to finally show our products in person and to get direct feedback while showing our ideas and the product developments. 

RW: Anything else we should know?

Nimpsch: We took some time to come up with so many ideas that really
improve workflows and that will be unique solutions for everyone to act,
feel and perform like a true pro, no matter where they go on air or record their voice — even at home! Be it for video calls, podcast recordings or rather traditional broadcast operations — we address audio enthusiasts on
all levels with our upcoming products. Stay tuned!



Yellowtec Booth: N4636

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


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Dont Bite the Bullet, Remove It!

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 08:19 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/workbench/dont-bite-the-bullet-remove-it


Scott Todd is a field technician for Educational Media Foundation, handling stations in Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

He needed to remove a “bullet” from an RF elbow and found that it was stuck. 

Not wanting to put the jaws of the pliers directly onto it, he wrapped the
base of the bullet in four layers of electrical tape, then tightened a
small hose clamp around the bullet. This permitted Scott to grab onto the bullet with the pliers, wiggling it free with no damage.
Make sure you wrap the tape and connect the hose clamp at the base of the bullet, so as not to deform its spring “fingers.”

Grout with muscle

Longtime Radio World contributor Charles “Buc” Fitch, P.E., enjoyed the DexPan tip that we shared back in April 2021. You’ll recall that the
material can be used to break up old tower piers or concrete pads
chemically.

Buc notes the difference between cement/concrete and grout. The former
shrinks as it dries. Grout, on the other hand, expands. That’s why it is
used between bathroom tiles; it fills the voids. 

The DexPan compound essentially is grout with an extreme expansion
coefficient. That property is why you can grout anchors into rock but you cannot cement them. The grout swells around the bolt, rod or rebar, pinning
it inside the rock void.

Also in that column, we shared an observation about cable pulling out of
their connectors with built-in restraints. Buc reminds engineers that the National Electrical Code is specific about cable types, connector types, appropriate applications and installation details for running wires
vertically, such as up a tower. 

An area of broadcasting subject to this section are tower lighting wires
that can run great distances up a tower in conduit. The rough rule of thumb
is that no wire installed vertically can travel more than 100 feet before
being supported.

[Check Out More of Workbench Here]

Buc was called into a station where electrical metallic tubing (EMT)
conduit was run up a dozen or so floors to connect to a rooftop generator.
To save money, this had been a do-it-yourself job; but the work all had to
be done over because the wire was not supported properly and there were no
fire stops installed as the conduit passed each floor landing.

In the wire sizes commonly used in broadcast applications such as tower lighting (18 to 8 AWG), the maximum spacing allowed between supports is 100 feet. Also, the individual wires have to be supported at the top of the
run, or as near the top as is possible. Specific support spacing
information for other wire sizes is addressed in an associated NEC table.

Buc cautions that the NEC codebook is not a design manual. The “designer” of an electrical system is directed to support the wires wherever needed to avoid stretch, which can affect the integrity of the insulation and
companion connections.

The NEC also has pages dedicated to “flexible cabling” — think extension cords. Generally you are not allowed to use a flexible cord in place of permanent wiring. That rack of terminal gear that you use only during
football season at your local college pressbox can plug into an outlet with
a short flexible cable. But you can’t go out the door and down the hall
into the janitor’s closet for months at a time to get power; that requires permanent wiring.

Keep in mind that every extension cord used in your engineering efforts is
a flexible cord and subject to the 12 AWG minimum sizing. Definitely no splicing is allowed on any flexible cord. 

To protect yourself, if a flexible cord — including any extension cord — is damaged, replace it.

’Scope setup

Jose Rodriguez is a technical manager at Tektronix, which makes a variety
of test equipment but is probably best known for their oscilloscopes. His
team has prepared a great video explaining how to display an electronic
signal properly once it’s captured. 

Seasoned engineers will know that the secret is in proper adjustment of the horizontal, vertical and trigger controls on the ’scope. The five-minute video will help entry-level engineers alleviate the mystery of how to set
one up. The video is a refresher for us seasoned engineers, too. 
Tektronix has a short helpful video about setting up an oscilloscope.

On the resource page, the video is at the top right. An Oscilloscope Fundamentals paper and other resources are also available.

John Bisset, CPBE, is in his 32nd year writing Workbench. He handles
western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and is a past recipient of
the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award. 

Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com.  

The post Don’t Bite the Bullet, Remove It! appeared first on Radio World.


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EBU Measures Music Diversity in Radio Programming

Posted: 12 Apr 2022 07:51 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/global/ebu-measures-music-diversity-in-radio-programming


Radio World’s “Guest Commentaries” section provides a platform for industry
thought leaders and other readers to share their perspective on radio news, technological trends and more. If you’d like to contribute a commentary, or reply to an already published piece, send a submission to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Matthieu Rawolle is a media analyst at European Broadcasting Union’s Media Intelligence Service (MIS). EBU commentaries appear regularly at radioworld.com. Here, Rawolle shares what EBU found when measuring music diversity at public radio stations across Europe, and what impact such
music diversity/variety can have on the industry.

When comparing public service broadcasters’ music programming with
commercial ones, listeners can use subjective arguments such as the quality
of the music or if it suits their taste. However, neutral and quantitative indicators also exist.

At the EBU, we found that public stations broadcast around five times the number of unique music titles than commercial competitors.

This striking figure comes from our latest report about music diversity in radio programming. Based on EBU’s Members data and third parties recent* research, it focuses mainly on three key indicators: broadcast hours per

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