[continued from previous message]

Gerald Gaule, formerly of the Oregon Commission for the Blind, is the
driving force behind CGR. He says CGR Radio 4 is the only full-time Spanish service for the blind west of Colorado. It is on all day, everyday. 

According to its website, of the four available streams, CGR 1 is more information-driven, CGR 2 offers the same format but is mainly music and entertainment and CGR 3-VetNet Radio caters to Veterans who are visually impaired and/or disabled.

CGR Radio 4 En Español serves our Spanish-speaking community with the same fine programming.
Gaule is not only the owner of CGR, but the program director, music
director and chief engineer, running these streams from his home.

Programming comes from several sources such as Program Share from The International Association of Audio Information Services, ACB Radio and
Pacifica Radio Network, but the future plan is to have local, volunteer
readers who are Spanish speaking, and to have a regular studio for [those] volunteers to read in-person, said Gaule.

A member of the International Association of Audio Information Services,
CGR Radios four online streams can all heard on the Voscast online
platform. The main service is also carried on FM subcarriers of KFAE(FM) in Richland, Wash. and KPBX(FM) Spokane.

[Visit Radio World’s News and Business Page]

The post CGR Radio Expands Service to Visually Impaired Spanish-speaking Populations appeared first on Radio World.


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Radio Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 01:44 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/programming-and-sales/radio-hall-of-fame-nominees-announced


Suzyn Waldman, Dave Ross, Walt “Baby” Love and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo are
just a few of the iconic radio talents who have been nominated for the
Radio Hall of Fame.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications released the list of 24 nominees,
whose names appear at bottom of this story. The museum said it received
some 2,500 suggestions this year.

The inductees will be named in late July and honored in November in Chicago.

The voting process has been tweaked; ballots will be sent to 600 industry members later this month, and each voter can name up to six individuals.
(Photo credit: Tripadvisor)

The 2022 nominees:

Bob Stroud-WDRV-FM / Chicago 
Bobby O’Jay-WDIA-AM /Memphis (posthumous) 
Broadway Bill Lee-WCBS-FM /New York 
Carol Miller-WAXQ-FM / New York 
Charles Laquidera-Boston 
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo-SiriusXM 
Dave Ross-KIRO-FM / Seattle 
Diane Rehm-WAMU-FM / Washington DC 
Dyana Williams-Philadelphia 
Ellen K-KOST-FM / Los Angeles 
John & Ken-KFI-AM /Los Angeles 
Johnny Magic WXXL-FM /Orlando 
Kevin Matthews-Chicago 
Larry Elder-Los Angeles 
Laurie DeYoung-WPOC-FM /Baltimore 
Lon Helton-Country Countdown USA 
Matt Siegel- Boston 
Mojo in the Morning-WKQI- FM/ Detroit 
Pat St. John-Sirius XM 
Pierre Robert-WMMR-FM/Philadelphia 
Raul Brindis-KLTN-FM /Houston 
Steven Van Zandt-SiriusXM 
Suzyn Waldman-New York Yankees Radio Network (WFAN-AM/FM New York) 
Walt “Baby” Love-Gospel Traxx 


Last year the organization named 33 “legacy” personalities and executives to the hall, in addition to the 2021 inductees.

Dennis Green and Kraig T. Kitchin are co-chairs of the Radio Hall of Fame, which was founded by Emerson Radio Corp.in 1988. It is now run by the
Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

The post Radio Hall of Fame Nominees Announced appeared first on Radio
World.


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NextGen Broadcast Conference Uncovers Rift Between CTA, NAB Leadership

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 12:04 PM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/nextgen-broadcast-conference-uncovers-rift-between-cta-nab-leadership


This story was originally published by our sister publication TV Tech.

The session was titled “ATSC 3.0: Television, Automotive and More” June 9 at the Advanced Television System Committee’s NextGen Broadcast Conference, but few could have predicted the “more” would include exchanges between Consumer Technology Association CEO and president Gary Shapiro and NAB CEO
and president Curtis LeGeyt that at times were quite pointed and at others downright confrontational.

Moderated by Digital Tech Consulting (DTC) founder and president Myra
Moore, the conversation between both association leaders started off, as
might be expected for a conference looking at the NextGen TV standard, on topics like the role of local broadcasters, what motivates CE manufacturers
to adopt anything new, the 3.0 build out, how the NextGen TV rollout
compares to DTV/HDTV rollout and the availability of NextGen TV sets.


The interaction between Shapiro, who was in person at the event, and
LeGeyt, who joined by Zoom, took an unexpected turn when Moore asked the association leaders about how the organizations are working together to
promote NextGen TV to consumers.

“First of all, I think were working tremendously well together, across, you know, numerous different aspects of this,” said LeGeyt. After mentioning recently reading an Op-Ed co-written by former NAB CEO and president Gordon Smith and Shapiro on the 10-year anniversary of the DTV transition and remarking on how it underscored the importance of “collaboration and consensus” between the CE and TV broadcast industries to achieve a shared goal, LeGeyt expressed appreciation for the collaborative efforts of the CE industry and CTA members on NextGen TV.

“…[B]eing on the same page, talking about how do we promote this collectively… the consumer value proposition…in the living room, in the phone and in all of these use cases—where your members are effectively
going to be… the consumers’ entryway to the benefits, I think the sky’s the
limit here,” said LeGeyt.

Shapiro, however, expressed there’s a limit. “I agree with everything you’ve said till this point, except that it’s a wonderful collaboration, because I’ve got to be honest with you, it’s tough to collaborate with someone when you’re investing a lot of your resources fighting ideas that they’re pushing forth to policymakers…,” said Shapiro.
(Image credit: ATSC)

The CTA head cited NAB efforts to put a tax “on all devices” using FCC-regulated spectrum. “Who wants their Wi-Fi taxed? Who wants all these equipment taxes? Thats not something that makes us very happy when youre
out there all the time talking about big tech and how horrible technology
is, and trying to push that agenda in Washington,” said Shapiro.

Shapiro also objected to the NAB’s support for taxpayer money to pay journalists, a proposal he characterized as going “to the heart of the
First Amendment and where government should be.” NAB is “pushing a lot of ideas which have nothing to do with expanding the industry and more to do
with fighting other industries that you somehow feel are against you,” he said.

[Visit Radio World’s News and Business Page]

Other items on Shapiro’s list of grievances included “fighting the music industry” for free performance rights, attacks on technology innovation, including a proposal to prevent a company with more than $100 million from acquiring another company. “Why is it that this past week, youve had `The Washington Post, far left liberal, and `The Wall Street Journal, far-right conservative, agreeing that these proposals are absolutely wrong for business?” he asked.

“Well, Gary, listen,” said LeGeyt. “I couldn’t disagree more. First off, as
it relates to any advocacy were doing around technology, it relates to the largest tech companies—Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon. [L]ets be very honest, [they] are impeding competition and pushing out many of your
members who cant compete with them.”

The NAB chief noted that the market dominance of those big tech companies
puts them in an information gatekeeper role and that their “market power
has finally found a way into breaking down the business model for locally focused journalism. That’s not a broadcast-specific issue.”

“[W]e’re not focused on… doing anything to technology and innovation in this country; where we are focused is on for companies that have absolutely outsized market power,” said LeGeyt, who suggested the two meet in
Washington to discuss “how we [NAB] can finetune our messaging around that
to make that clear.”

However, “there is no future of this business model [broadcasting] in which four companies…have an outsized impact on our ability to reach our
audiences as those audiences migrate to digital and are turning around and using our own content against us in a local ad marketplace that they
dominate as a result of that monopoly power,” said LeGeyt.

Moore tried to pull the conversation back to 3.0, but Shapiro continued. “This is not just an attack on four big companies,” he said. This is an attack on the tech industry saying you dont have a right to develop a
platform and make it successful.”

LeGeyt called Shapiro’s description of NAB’s advocacy and proposals a complete mischaracterization of “our anti-trust agenda as it relates to… these broader anti-trust initiatives.”

“Look, there are a lot of proposals out there right now. NAB supports the overarching effort to rein in these tech companies,” he said.

Addressing collaboration between NAB and CTA on NextGen TV promotion,
LeGeyt said he was “going to push back.”

“As the head of the CTA trade association, you may not feel like the partnership has been good,” said LeGeyt. “But I can tell you from our members’ perspective, we are grateful for the partnership that we’ve had with your industry as it relates to receiver standards [and] as it relates
to joint promotion in the markets where the deployment has happened. And as
it relates to broadcast education, consumer education… in this early stage—we are grateful for the work to date, and I need your members to know that.

In reply, Shapiro noted that ATSC is a “wonderful mechanism composed of super-competent people” who came together and agreed on a goal for NextGen TV. “I think that’s great, but when you asked about the partnership between the industries and organizations and how this would be promoted, it’s tough to promote it when someone has a knife, and they keep trying to stab you.”

The post NextGen Broadcast Conference Uncovers Rift Between CTA, NAB
Leadership appeared first on Radio World.


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REC Networks: "FCC Missing Key Point in ZoneCasting Rulemaking"

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 11:00 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/rec-networks-fcc-missing-key-point-in-zonecasting-rulemaking


REC Networks believes the FCC is ignoring the Local Community Radio Act
(LCRA) while vetting the geo-targeting FM booster system from GeoBroadcast Solutions (GBS).

The LPFM advocate, in a new filing to the commission, cites the statutory implications of licensing new FM boosters in well-served areas where no “community need” has been expressed.

ZoneCasting uses a series of FM boosters to carve out segments of a broadcaster’s coverage area to geo-target programming and commercials for short periods of time. The technology has been heavily scrutinized by NAB.
GBS believes ZoneCasting is viable and allows radio broadcasters to
super-serve very specific parts of their coverage areas with particularly relevant advertising and information.   

REC Networks contends that while the FCC considered the LCRA in recent rulemaking proceeding for LPFM, LCRA was suddenly forgotten by the
commission when evaluating “needs of the community” when it came to licensing new FM translator stations in Auctions 99 and 100. 

“And so far, in the record of this (GBS ZoneCasting) proceeding, the LCRA
has not been mentioned by stakeholders nor the commission, even though it should be,” REC Networks said in its recent filing. “The booster boom proposed by GBS must be evaluated under the LCRA.” 

Michelle Bradley, founder of REC Networks, made the assertion after
reviewing data from two recent experimental tests of the GBS geo-targeting
FM booster system. The FCC earlier this year asked for comment about the experimental field tests at KSJO(FM) in San Jose, Calif., and WRBJ(FM) in Brandon, Miss.

To briefly review, President Obama signed the LCRA and enacted it into law
in 2011. The LCRA was compromise legislation between LPFM interests, the National Association of Broadcasters and other interests representing LPFM
and full-service broadcast owners, according to REC Networks.

A section of the LCRA commits the FCC, when licensing new FM translator stations, booster stations and low-power FM stations, to ensure the following:  

Licenses are available to FM translator stations, FM booster stations, and low-power FM stations; 
Such decisions are made based on the needs of the local community; and
FM translator stations, FM booster stations, and low-power FM stations
shall remain equal in status and secondary to existing and modified full-service FM stations.


REC Networks previously proposed the FCC adopt a Community Need Criteria
(see supplementary information below) which establishes whether a proposed
FM booster is being used for the technologys intended purpose, which is to provide fill-in coverage with a station’s 1 mV/m contour where service of
the primary station is otherwise obstructed by intervening terrain or other reasons.

[See Our Business and Law Page]

REC, which opposes the concept of ZoneCasting, argues criteria that
constitute “community need” justified the placement of experimental boosters for geo-target testing at KSJO, but not at WRBJ.

“The two reports submitted by GBS do an excellent job of demonstrating
both, the right reason to add an FM booster (KSJO) and the wrong reason to
add a booster (WRBJ). Boosters are intended to fill in gaps in coverage
within the primary stations service contour as a result of intervening terrain,” REC commented.
A screengrab from the REC filing showing the field strength of the WRBJ(FM) primary at the booster sites.

When the commission first authorized FM boosters, the intent of the service
was to provide low-powered facilities to fill in gaps in coverage due to terrain and other factors, especially in mountainous areas such as the
western United States, according to REC. “In these cases, the public would benefit from a radio service being added to their area that would otherwise
not be received. Therefore, there was a ‘community need,’” REC commented.  

REC in its filing seeks several things from the FCC: “First and foremost,
the Commission must acknowledge that the LCRA does not just apply to LPFM stations, but also applies to FM translators and FM boosters. Before any rulemaking is adopted, the Commission is obligated by statute to assure
that new licenses for LPFM stations, FM translators and FM boosters are
issued based on community need and not solely on station want.

[Related: HD Radio Developer Takes Close Look at ZoneCasting]

Secondly, REC proposes the commission’s rules be amended to also apply to
FM booster applications. “Currently, an FM translator, LPFM or even a full-service station has no documented recourse against an interfering or potentially interfering FM booster until after the FM booster is
constructed and is causing interference. With the amount of time it is
taking for the Commission to address these interference packages, it could cause significant damage to the incumbent station that the proposed FM
booster may interfere with.”

As for the GBS ZoneCasting technology, REC previously concluded that geo-targeting does nothing to increase diversity in broadcast ownership. 

“Instead, it only makes a few, select, diverse owners even stronger while foreclosing on future opportunities for other groups seeking to be heard,” REC told the FCC. “The ability for broadcast stations to exclude certain programming and services from one area, especially within the community of license in favor of more affluent gold coast areas creates a new form of socio-economic redlining and discrimination…there is no public outcry for
FM boosters that will cover up well received FM stations in order to place
ads. Stations should be focusing first on their community of license and
not the so-called ‘gold coast’ portions of their service contour.”

REC concludes: “We need to fix the FM booster rules, but we need to do it
in a manner that is consistent with the original intention of FM boosters
and do it in a manner that complies with federal statutes. Geo-targeted
content does not meet that criterion.”

Supplementary information

Michelle Bradley, CBT, explains the steps in  the Community Need Criteria developed by REC Networks and proposed to the FCC as a method to
demonstrate community need when licensing a new FM booster pursuant to LCRA:

Draw a 60 dBu contour of the proposed FM booster.
Determine the population inside of that 60 dBu contour.
Run a Longley/Rice propagation study of the proposed boosters primary station.
Measure the population inside of the 60 dBu of the proposed booster that is notpredicted to receive a 54 dB or stronger field strength from the
primary station.
If that population is more than 40% of the overall 60 dBu (as measured in
step 2), then community need is met.


Bradley tells Radio World she has received no indication from the
commission about how it feels about her proposal nor the FCC’s position on enforcing LCRA.

The post REC Networks: “FCC Missing Key Point in ZoneCasting Rulemaking” appeared first on Radio World.


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Tieline Gateway Firmware Adds Features

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 09:15 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/products/tieline-gateway-firmware-adds-features


Tieline has released new firmware for its Gateway and Gateway 4 codecs that
it says adds important new features.

Version 3.04.14 provides support for Icecast and SHOUTcast HTTP streaming,
for ST 2022-7 AoIP redundant streaming and stream statistics, and for SAP discovery.

It provides user-defined programs that allow creation of audio streams
without using templates. It also supports Dynamic DDNS and provides HTML5 Web-GUI headphone controls.

VP Sales Americas Doug Ferber described the firmware as delivering “new program configuration workflow that supports creating audio streams on the
fly without interruptions to existing connections.”

The release is a free upgrade for existing users. Release notes and
downloads are available on Tielines website.

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

The post Tieline Gateway Firmware Adds Features appeared first on Radio
World.


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Best of Show: Dielectric FMP FM Pylon Antenna Family

Posted: 13 Jun 2022 08:46 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/resource-center/awards/best-of-show-awards-nab/best-of-show-dielectric-fmp-fm-pylon-antenna-family


We are featuring the products that won the Radio World Best of Show Award
at the recent NAB Show. Winners were chosen by a panel of radio engineers
and RW editorial staff for their innovation, feature set, cost efficiency
and performance in serving the industry. 

Broadband pylon antennas are known in TV land. Dielectric is bringing its
high efficiency and low windload to FM broadcasters. The benefits of the
slot cavity microstrip FM antenna design include multicasting, pattern flexibility, increased reliability and a small tower footprint. John
Schadler received the Best Paper Award in the NAB Broadcast Engineering and
IT Conference for his presentation on the use of slotted coaxial pylon
antenna technology in FM.


Shown with Radio World’s Paul McLane are Dielectric’s Kim Savage, John Schadler and Keith Pelletier.
(Credit: Jim Peck)

[Check Out Other Recipients of Radio World’s Best of Show Award]

The post Best of Show: Dielectric FMP FM Pylon Antenna Family appeared
first on Radio World.


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Best of Show: Bionic Table From Broadcast Bionics

Posted: 12 Jun 2022 02:00 AM PDT https://www.radioworld.com/resource-center/awards/best-of-show-awards-nab/best-of-show-bionic-table-from-broadcast-bionics


We are featuring the products that won the Radio World Best of Show Award
at the recent NAB Show. Winners were chosen by a panel of radio engineers
and RW editorial staff for their innovation, feature set, cost efficiency
and performance in serving the industry. 

Turn any area in your facility into a content creation studio with the “Bionic Table.”

You supply a physical surface, as well as an edge device such as a Telos Microphone xNode, and up to four mics and headphones. Then connect your
laptop, tablet or phone, and choose which utensils you want from the Table menu: mics, audio sources, audio beds/stings, phones, webcams. Contributors
can connect to the Bionic Table session remotely via web mic.

The console, playout, phone and remote source capabilities come from
Bionics’ software, running on a machine or virtual machine in your building or in the cloud.

The Table uses automix to control levels. Record a session and download
your recording as a stereo mix or as full multi-track file. The output is a broadcast-quality live audio stream that is available over the network and
can be made available to streaming services or as a recorded file. 

“It’s designed to be used in the breakout zone, meeting room, coffee area or even in a corner of your own home.”

Shown, from left: Dan McQuillen and Duncan Smith come to the table with
Radio World’s John Casey and Paul McLane.


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

The post Best of Show: Bionic Table From Broadcast Bionics appeared first
on Radio World.

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