Little Chance of New Copyright Legislation This Year

Washington - Feb 19, 2003 - Within the media technology and entertainment industries there is little hope that Congress will pass significant legislation this year dealing with copy protection issues.

This view was shared by advocates of both sides of the issue at a Washington, D.C., conference last week sponsored by the Precursor Group, an investment research firm. Participants at the conference included representatives of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The reasons for the predicted Congressional inaction will be a possible war in Iraq and a slowing economy. Members of Congress "are going to be distracted," said Gary Shapiro, CEA president. Some advocates want legislation that requires electronics manufacturers to install copy-protection devices on home entertainment devices. Others seek to expand the rights of consumers to copy movies and music for personal use.

"The prospects for legislation are rather dim," said Fritz Attaway, general counsel for the MPAA. "I don't think any bill will be enacted without a large degree of consensus among the various affected industries."

Rock Hall Renovates Radio Studio

Cleveland - Feb 18, 2003 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has opened an exhibit featuring legendary DJ Alan Freed. The exhibit, which will be in the Circular Gallery in the Ahmet M. Ertegun Exhibition Hall, is scheduled to open with a private party on Saturday, March 1 and run through May 18, 2003. The exhibit opens to the public on Sunday, March 2.

To coincide with the exhibit, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has opened the newly renovated radio studio on the Museum’s fifth floor. The studio, renamed the Alan Freed Radio Studio, has been made possible through the generous support of Broadcasters General Store and numerous radio equipment manufacturers. The significantly improved studio enables visiting broadcasters from around the world to continue originating distinctive programs live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

The exhibit, housed in the Circular Gallery of the Ahmet M. Ertegun Exhibition Hall, will feature numerous historical artifacts such as movie posters, concert programs, records, sheet music and original correspondence and documents. The exhibit also includes documents related to the Payola scandal. Some of these items include a letter from Alan Freed to WABD radio in 1959 and a New York Criminal Court document from 1960.

"Alan Freed was one of the first and most vociferous champions of rock and roll. It's only fitting that we pay tribute to him, particularly given the fact that he made his name right here in Cleveland," says James Henke, vice president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs. "Over the years, the Hall of Fame has developed a strong relationship with his family, and it is through their good graces that we are able to do this exhibit."

Often dubbed the "Pied Piper of Rock and Roll," Alan Freed was one of the first and most influential champions of rock and roll. As a disc jockey, first in Cleveland then in New York, Freed introduced millions of white listeners to "race" music, or rhythm & blues. As the music evolved, Freed dubbed it "rock and roll," and as rock and roll swept the country, Freed became its primary promoter. Freed was inducted into the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Look for a complete facility showcase feature on the renovated radio studio in an upcoming issue of Radio magazine.

PPM Shows Radio Listening Spike During Columbia Coverage

Cisco's Volpi to Keynote NAB2003 Multimedia World

Washington - Feb 12, 2003 - Cisco Systems Routing Technology Group Senior Vice President Mike Volpi will give the keynote address for the NAB2003 MultiMedia World, April 7 in Las Vegas. Volpi will provide attendees with an overview on the state of new media formats and broadband adoption, network convergence, copyright security and the role of government on the issue of digital rights management and on-demand streaming media.

Volpi is responsible for all of Cisco's routing and access products. Previously, he was senior vice president of Cisco's Internet Switching and Services Group and prior to that, he was the company's chief strategy officer, where he was responsible for corporate strategy as well as business development, strategic alliances, advanced Internet projects, legal services and government affairs. Since joining Cisco in 1994, Volpi has been instrumental in the company's acquisition and investment strategies. Cisco has acquired more than 70 companies during his tenure and he has developed Cisco's acquisition and integration processes, which have been a significant driver of Cisco's growth into new markets.

McCain Reintroduces Media Tax Legislation

AFTRA and SAG Adopt Consolidation Plan

Los angeles and New York - Feb 8, 2003 - At a joint videoconference meeting, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) national boards of directors overwhelmingly approved a resolution to adopt a plan to consolidate the unions by a combined vote of 141 to 3. The plan calls for the creation of an umbrella union and three affiliates, operating within that umbrella and dedicated to, respectively, actors, broadcasters and recording artists.

In a joint statement, John Connolly, AFTRA national president and Melissa Gilbert, SAG national president, said, "We commend our boards for their vision and for recognizing the urgency and sensibility of this plan. We must also express our appreciation to the AFTRA and SAG committees and staffs who worked so hard over the past months to carefully and thoughtfully construct this plan."

The document, entitled Principles of Consolidation and Affiliation, is the product of several months' work by the SAG AFTRA Relations Taskforce and AFTRA Strategic Alliances Committee with senior staff and includes six basic principals: Consolidation, Affiliation, Governance, Administrative Structure, Organizing and Benefit Plan Consolidation.

As part of the resolution, the two national boards direct the joint committees, along with staff, to begin the next steps, which include subcommittees drafting a constitution, a business plan, and a plan for implementation and transition, all to be submitted to the Joint Boards at a meeting scheduled for April 5, 2003, in Washington, DC. With each board’s approval, each union will send referendums for ratification to its members. AFTRA and SAG’s constitution and bylaws require at least a 60 percent majority of votes cast for passage.

Motorola's Symphony Doubles its Performance

Austin, TX – Feb 10, 2003 – Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector is now offering its next-generation, 24-bit digital signal processor (DSP) optimized for professional and consumer audio electronic applications. The DSP56371 doubles the level of performance and provides more on-chip memory than previous members of the Symphony Digital Audio DSP family, helping to simplify systems design and drive down costs by creating a smaller, more cost-effective system. Targeted at audio and video receivers, home theaters, surround sound decoders, mini stereo systems, digital TV audio systems and automotive audio systems, the DSP56371 is designed to meet the demands of audio electronics system designers by supporting the latest generation decoders, such as Dolby, THX and DTS, among others.

The DSP56371 is capable of running delay management, bass management and DTS96/24 while using less than half of the DSP's computing capability. The performance increase is made possible through the use of a higher core frequency, fewer memory wait states, a larger amount of on-chip static random access memory (SRAM) and the addition of an Enhanced Filter Coprocessor (EFCOP).

Samples and development tools for the DSP56371 are expected to be available in late first quarter, 2003, with production expected to begin in third quarter of this year.

Delphi and Philips Develop Software Radio DSP

San Jose, CA - Feb 10, 2003 - Royal Philips Electronics and Delphi have jointly developed what the companies believe to be the next generation, state-of-the-art digital tuner for vehicles. This tuner chipset offers the listener clarity, enhanced noise suppression and reduces multipath channel effect, which provides consistent sound quality under dynamic reception conditions. The tuner chipset architecture also provides the interface required for the new HD Radio features.

Philips' car DSP, the SAF7730, has enabled Delphi to develop proprietary radio software that will provide improved reception performance through the use of advanced DSP algorithms. The SAF7730 is a single-chip DSP design with several integrated powerful DSP cores for audio and radio processing.

Arbitron PPM Shows High Numbers for Super Bowl

Dielectric Acquires Brookstone Telecom

Raymond, ME - Feb 21, 2003 - Dielectric Communications has acquired Brookstone Telecom of Temecula, CA. Brookstone is a provider of construction and maintenance services to the telecommunications industry. The addition of Brookstone Telecom adds to Dielectric's platform of broadcast service offerings and enhances its geographic presence.

Brookstone's develops, constructs and services site infrastructure, primarily in the wireless telecom industry.

Dalet Provides Tools for Future Journalists

Paris - Feb 19, 2003 - Dalet Digital Media Systems has installed the Dalet Plus News Suite at Washington and Lee University's School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The university's faculty chose Dalet Plus News Suite for its integrated multimedia production toolset and digitally converged environment. Dalet Plus News Suite enables radio and TV journalists to browse incoming wire feeds, write stories, build rundowns as well as edit audio and video packages. Its built-in newsroom workflow and media asset management capabilities effectively control the entire broadcast operations.

Washington and Lee's goal from the outset was to creat an environment where students could focus on the content of their journalism, while learning modern production tools.

Harris Makes Inroads with IBOC Sales

Cincinnati - Feb 19, 2003 - Ten stations have recently purchased IBOC exciters from Harris for their transition to digital radio. Each station has chosen the Harris Dexstar AM/FM HD Radio exciter. Several of these stations have also chosen to purchase new Harris Z-HD transmitters or upgrade their current transmitters to digital radio readiness. The stations, owned by companies such as Federated Media, Cleveland Classical and James Crystal Holdings, can be found in large and small media markets across the United States.

The stations include:

• WCLV-FM 104.9, Cleveland, OH - Cleveland Classical

• WNWV-FM 107.3, Cleveland, OH - Elyria-Lorain

• WWFE-AM 670, Miami, FL - Fenix Broadcasting

• WOWO-AM 1190, Ft. Wayne, IN - Federated Media

• WJNA-AM 640, West Palm Beach, FL - James Crystal Holdings

• KZIA-FM 102.9, Cedar Rapids, IA - KZIA

• KMRY-AM 1450, Cedar Rapids, IA - Sellers Broadcasting

• WASE-FM 103.5, Elizabethtown, KY - W&B Broadcasting

• WRHC-AM 1550, Miami, FL - WRHC Management

• WXGI-AM 950, Richmond, VA - Gee Communications
  
  In addition, WNWV-FM, KZIA-FM, WCLV-FM and WASE-FM have all purchased new Z-HD transmitters in various power ranges. WRMR-AM 1420, another Cleveland classical station, has upgraded its current Gates 5 transmitter and WJNA-AM 640 has upgraded its existing Harris DX50 transmitter.
  
  KMRY-AM and WXGI-AM have purchased a DAX transmitter from Harris' DAX 1-6kW line. The DAX 1-6kW transmitters are a family of low-power transmitters designed to improve the analog sound regardless of the power level.
  
  With the NAB2003 convention just around the corner and the renewed incentive from Ibiquity of reduced licensing fees, it is expected that more stations will commit to installing IBOC equipment over the coming months.

Andrew to Acquire Allen Telecom

Orland Park, IL and Beachwood, OH - Feb 18, 2003 – Andrew and Allen Telecom have signed an agreement under which Andrew will acquire Allen in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at about $500 million. This combination will further establish Andrew as a global wireless infrastructure subsystems supplier, with the capability to provide virtually the entire base-station RF footprint.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to Andrew earnings per share in the first full year following completion, and will be structured to qualify as a tax-free exchange. The company sees substantial opportunities for synergies and cost savings—in excess of $40 million in annual cost savings following integration—from efficiencies in manufacturing, purchasing, research and development, and sales, general and administration.

Under terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, Allen shareholders will receive 1.775 shares of newly-issued Andrew stock for each Allen share that they currently own. Based on Andrew's closing price of $9.01 per share on Feb. 14, 2003, the consideration represents a 21 percent premium over Allen's share price on the same day. Following completion of the transaction, on a fully diluted basis, excluding Allen preferred stock, Andrew shareholders will own about 64 percent and Allen shareholders will own about 36 percent.

The combined company will have nearly 7,000 employees, pro forma annual revenues of about $1.3 billion, and annual R&D spending of $90 million.

Philip Wm. Colburn, chairman of Allen, and Robert G. Paul, chief executive officer of Allen, will join the Andrew Board of Directors following completion of the transaction, increasing the total number of directors to 12.

Completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2003, is subject to approval of shareholders of both companies, expiration of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and other customary closing conditions.

ATI Gets New Owners

Horsham, PA - Feb 14, 2003 - In 1979, Sam Wentzel and Ed Mullins created ATI to manufacture audio equipment. The company's product line has grown to include stereo consoles; analog and digital audio distribution amplifiers; mic, line and phono amplifiers; small mixers; interface amplifiers; mic and line processing amplifiers; headphone amplifiers; analog and digital monitoring and metering systems; noise generators and audio switchers and monitors.

The company's products are used in broadcast and production facilities around the world. Some notable users include the United Nations, VOA Worldwide, the Architect of the Capital (which services the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and the White House), IBM, AT&T, theme parks and stadiums.

The company has been sold to David Day, who has a strong background in audio. He has worked for telecommunications and electronics companies including Acoustic Research and International Jensen. He is also the founder of Day-Sequerra, a company that manufactures high-end FM tuners, amplifiers and antennas. The transfer took effect on Jan. 29.

Wentzel and Mullins will remain with the company as consultants to provide guidance. ATI currently employs eight people. Additional staff will likely be hired in time. Added to the company in management roles are CFO Ken Davis and Marketing Manager Linda Reed.

Initial company goals include growing customer satisfaction and reducing manufacturing lead times, while still building on the existing company history.

The contact information for the company will remain the same.

328 W. Maple Avenue
Horsham, PA 19044
215-443-0330; 215-443-1394 fax
www.atiguys.com; sales@atiguys.com

BE Fills IBOC Orders for Spanish Broadcasting and Crawford

Quincy, IL - Feb 12, 2003 - Two more radio owners are taking steps to install Ibiquity's HD Radio IBOC system. Both groups have selected equipment from Broadcast Electronics.

Spanish Broadcasting System will make its entry into HD Radio using Broadcast Electronics' FMi 201 broadband transmitter and FXi 60 digital exciter with FSi 10 signal generator for its Miami station, WRMA-FM. The stations will use the high-level combining method to generate its hybrid IBOC signal. A new high-level combining technique tested by the engineers at Broadcast Electronics and its antenna partners will make it possible for the group to inject the digital carrier directly into the antenna combiner, instead of into a separate combiner with the analog component. As a result, the FM's existing analog operation will be unaffected by HD Radio conversion.

The plans are to run polarized digital and analog signals through the balanced antenna to feed the top half of the master antenna with the analog component bottom half with the digital component. This configuration will reduce the injector loss typical of high-level combining (10dB loss in IBOC and a 0.45dB loss in analog), eliminating the need for Spanish Broadcasting to purchase a higher-powered HD Radio transmitter to handle the injector load.

WRMA is a 100kW station. In a normal high-level combiner arrangement it would need a 10kW transmitter for the IBOC signal. The antenna combiner method requires the station to supply only 875W and still provide the same effective radiated power. The station has chosen to start with a 600W signal to get it on the air.

In a separate announcement, Crawford Broadcasting's Chicago station, WPWX-FM, will go on air with HD Radio within the next 90 days using a Broadcast Electronics FMi 703 transmitter and FXi 60 exciter with FSi 10 signal generator. The digital signal will be introduced to WPWX's transmission chain based on a high-level, shared antenna configuration in which digital and analog FM are combined after transmission for shared radiated power through an existing ERI directional antenna system.

WPWX's existing FM transmitter, a Broadcast Electronics FM 30T, will remain in operation without modification to continue WPWX's 50kW analog service. WPWX is one of four in a cluster of Crawford Broadcasting owned FMs in Chicago. The broadcast company uses Broadcast Electronics FM-30T transmitters for one station in Chicago and two stations in Birmingham, AL.

Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation Goes HD with Harris

Cincinnati - Feb 11, 2003 - Harris has arranged the sale of several digital products to the Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (HBC) for its transition to Ibiquity's IBOC HD Radio. The sale totals more than $725,000.

HBC has purchased Harris Dexstar exciters for three stations: WADO-1280 AM, New York; KTNQ-AM 1020, Los Angeles; and WQBA-AM 1140, Miami. Hispanic Broadcasting also has purchased a DAX-5 5kW medium-power FM transmitter for WIND-AM 560, Chicago.

Hispanic Broadcasting also has chosen Harris to upgrade its current Harris FM transmitters to the Harris Z-HD series of HD Radio FM transmitters for the following stations:

• WOJO-FM 105.1, Chicago

• WCAA-FM 105.9, New York

• KLVE-FM 107.5, Los Angeles

• WRTO-FM 98.3, Miami

• KEMR-FM 105.7, San Francisco
  
  HBC, a Spanish-language radio broadcaster, currently owns or operates 63 radio stations in 15 of the top 20 Hispanic markets. The company also owns and operates a network of Hispanic community-focused, bilingual websites found at www.netmio.com.

Kathrein-Scala Appoints SE Sales Manager

Medford, OR - Feb 5, 2003 - Kathrein Scala Division has appointed Oscar Harris as its new regional sales manager for the southeastern region. He will be responsible for the company’s efforts in the wireless and land mobile industry segments. Harris, a long-time industry veteran, will operate Kathrein-Scala’s sales office from Atlanta.

Harris comes to Kathrein-Scala after several years with Trilogy and an 18-year career in antenna engineering and sales with RFS. He holds an engineering degree from Drexel University.

The Atlanta sales office can be reached through the following contact information:

Phone: 404-432-6583
E-mail: oharris@kathrein.com

Sennheiser Appoints Assoc. Product Manager

Old Lyme, CT - Feb 12, 2003 - Sennheiser Electronic has named Robb Blumenreder as associate product manager for Innova SON. In this newly created position, Blumenreder will function as key liaison with Innova SON, France, implement the expansion of customer databases, handle product forecasting and manage the day-to-day operations of the product line including customer support, rep updates and marketing strategies. He reports directly to Jeff Alexander, director of distributed brands.

Blumenreder is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, has a background in live sound and served as an intern at the company prior to his hiring on Jan. 6, 2003.

"With the rapid rise of Innova SON's success in the U.S. market," said Alexander, "it became quickly apparent the division needed additional help. Robb's enthusiasm backed by his sales skills, organizational abilities and quick grasp of digital technology makes him a natural for this position."

Sennheiser was established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany. Sennheiser Electronic is the U.S. wholly-owned subsidiary.

Faison Named CEO of Andrew

Orland Park, IL - Feb 11, 2003 - Andrew's Board of Directors has appointed Ralph E. Faison as the company's chief executive officer. Faison was formerly Andrew COO. He succeeds Dr. Floyd L. English, who will continue as Andrew chairman until February 2004.

Faison's appointment was formally announced at Andrew's 55th Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the 23rd as a publicly owned company) at the Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, on Feb. 11, 2003.

Faison became COO of Andrew in June 2002 after his company Celiant Corporation, was acquired by Andrew. Before Celiant, Faison was a vice president in Lucent Technologies' New Ventures Group, in charge of creating ventures from the wireless and multimedia technologies of Bell Laboratories. Before that, Faison was Lucent's VP of advertising and brand management. Prior to Lucent, he held positions in sales, marketing, business unit management and manufacturing for AT&T, including VP and general manager of AT&T's wireless business unit and manufacturing VP for its Consumer Products unit in Bangkok, Thailand.

Orban Ships Optimod PC

San Leandro, CA - Feb 21, 2003 - Orban has shipped the first Optimod PC cards, officially called the Optimod 1100. The processor on a PC card idea was driven by customer demand, and Bob Orban, Greg Ogonowski and the Orban engineering team developed the device for digital audio broadcast, including IBOC and DTV, as well as studio mastering, streaming audio.

The PCI-bus card offers two digital inputs with mixing of asynchronous sources and sound card emulation that allows Optimod-PC to talk through the operating system to applications running on the host.

Lakesoft Releases Eskimmer 4.3

Albany, OR - Feb 19, 2003 - Lakesoft has released version 4.30 of its Eskimmer Appliance System. The Eskimmer Appliance allows high-quality recordings of on-air signals, performances or communications, and allows playback over its unique wWebskimmer interface via a LAN, WAN or the Internet.

Encoding-on-the-fly allows audio that is still being recorded to be immediately accessible for playback and verification. Files can be distributed via e-mail or other means for instant reconciliation.

Soundcraft Updates RM1d, Adds RCS Support

Danagger Audio Works Establishes Dealer Network

Kelowna, BC - Feb 10, 2003 - Danagger Audio Works has established distribution for its Plan B Silence Eliminator. The product is being represented in the United States by Broadcast Supply Worldwide of Tacoma, WA, and Broadcasters General Store of Ocala, FL. Canadian distributorship is through All Electric Pro Audio of Coquitlam, BC. Arrangements are also underway for the distribution of a European version of the Plan B, due for release in April.

The Plan B Silence Eliminator is a patent-pending product designed to protect a radio station's listenership and revenue by preventing any dead air outages. The unit, installed at the studio or transmitter site, can detect the loss of a program feed and quickly provide continuous programming from its built-in multiformat disc player. It also automatically contacts station personnel by telephone, reports the failure with a pre-recorded voice, and allows connected equipment (and itself) to be controlled via the remote user’s telephone keypad. When the main program feed is restored, the Plan B smoothly fades, stops and re-cues the backup disc to the next track. The disc player can play MP3 encoded discs at a wide range of bit rates as well as standard CDs, giving stations the option to create non-repeating backup programming of as long as 44 hours from a single disc.

Radio magazine has a Field Report on the Plan B scheduled for an upcoming issue.