NAB Announces Board Election Results

Washington, DC - Feb 5, 2004 - The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2004 NAB Radio and Television Board elections. The two-year terms of the newly elected Board Members begin in June 2004.

Radio Board

• NY-NJ

  : Joseph M. Bilotta, Buckley Radio, New York, NY.

• DE-DC-MD-VA

  : W. Bradford (Brad) Eure, Eure Communications, Inc., Charlottesville, VA.

• NC-SC

  : Alex Snipe, Glory Communications Inc., West Columbia, SC*.

• LA-MS

  : Stephen Levet, WCKW-AM, Metairie, LA*.

• IN

  : Jeff Smulyan, Emmis Communications Corporation, Indianapolis, IN*.

• MO-KS

  : James E. (Bud) Janes, KHMO/KICK, Bick Broadcasting, Hannibal, MO.

• IA-WI

  : Mary Quass, NewRadio Group, Cedar Rapids, IA.

• CO-NE

  : Rolland C. Johnson, Three Eagles Communications, Monument, CO*.

• So. TX

  : John W. Barger, VictoriaRadio Works, Ltd., San Antonio, TX*.

• MT/ID/WY

  : Alan Harris, Wagonwheel Communications, Green River, WY*.

• AZ-NV-NM-UT

  : Paul G. Gardner, Elko Broadcasting Company, Elko, NV.

• S.CA-GU-HI

  : Howard B. Anderson, KHWY, Inc., Los Angeles, CA.
  
  Television Board

• Elizabeth M. Burns Morgan Murphy Stations, Duluth, MN.

• Paul Dino Dinovitz KRON-TV, Young Broadcasting, San Francisco, CA*.

• Craig Dubow Gannett Broadcasting, McLean, VA*.

• James M. Keelor Liberty Corporation, Greenville, SC*.

• John Lansing The E. W. Scripps Co., Cincinnati, OH*.

• James Yager Barrington Broadcasting Co., Hoffman Estates, IL.
  
  * - indicates incumbent

FCC Launches Electioneering Communications Database

Bush Looks to Increase FCC Funding

Washington - Feb 2, 2004 - President Bush wants to substantially increase the amount of federal money that the FCC receives. As part of a 2005 $2.4 trillion budget request, Bush recommended increasing the FCC's budget by $20 million, providing $293 million to the agency. The increase is eyed with the hope that it will speed the deployment of high-speed Internet services, enhance homeland security, increase competition and revise media ownership regulations. Bush also stated that he would push legislation to fine TV broadcasters $500 million if they don't vacate their analog spectrum by 2006. Broadcasters are supposed to switch to digital frequencies by 2006, or when 85 percent of the nation has digital TVs. Similar legislation has been introduced for the past several years but has failed to go anywhere in Congress.

FCC Holds Localism Hearing

San Antonio - Jan 29, 2004 - The FCC held the second in its series of hearings on localism on Jan. 29 in San Antonio. All five FCC Commissioners were present and heard testimony from 12 witnesses. Chairman Powell initiated the hearings to educate the FCC on how broadcasters serve their local communities, and also to educate the public on how they may speak their voices in the station license renewal process. The NAB described the audience of 500 as "composed primarily of loosely organized, vocal critics of the broadcasting industry and the FCC, and the overall tone of the hearing was less balanced than the October hearing in Charlotte, NC."

The 12 witnesses participated in panels. The participants were:

• Lydia Camarillo, vice president, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, San Antonio.

• Steve Giust, general manager, KWEX-TV (Univision), San Antonio.

• Joe Linson, vice president, NAACP, San Antonio Branch.

• Ray Rossman, director, Parents Television Council, San Antonio Chapter.

• Robert G. McGann, president and general manager, KENS-TV (CBS) (Belo), San Antonio.

• Oscar Moran, senior advisor to the executive board and former president, League of United Latin American Citizens, San Antonio.

• Ray Benson, co-founder/guitarist/vocalist of the band Asleep at the Wheel, Austin, TX; board member, The Recording Academy, Texas Chapter.

• John Freeman, chief operations officer, Southern Development Foundation, licensee of Low-Power FM Station KOCZ-LP, Opelousas, LA.

• Tom Glade, vice president/market manager, Clear Channel Radio, San Antonio.

• Ray Hair, president, Dallas-Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association.

• Dr. Rick Wayne, chief executive officer, Christus Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, San Antonio.

• Jerry Hanszen, owner and general manager, KMHT AM-FM, Marshall, TX, and KGAS AM-FM, Carthage, TX.
  
  During the open microphone sessions, critics complained about station news, LPFM access, free political airtime, closed captioning of weather emergencies, indecency, insufficient airplay of local music artists and undercoverage of the Hispanic community. There were some that praised the community efforts of stations with the AMBER plan, which was developed in Texas.
  
  The next hearing is scheduled for Santa Cruz, CA, in March.

25–Seven Forms as Broadcast Technology Manufacturer

Boston, MA - Feb 6, 2004 — 25–Seven Systems, specializing in audio technologies for more efficient and profitable radio operations, has made public its collaboration among several respected names in radio hardware and software. The company president, Geoff Steadman, has assembled a team of individuals to develop practical solutions to meet the requirements of radio stations and networks.

Steadman, whose recent broadcast industry work includes shepherding the Cart Chunk Standard (AES 46-2002) for audio file interchange among diverse broadcast audio systems, previously worked as the product manager for the Orban Audicy and DSE 7000 radio production workstations.

Other key personnel involved in 25–Seven include:

Harris Completes DRM Demos in China and Taiwan

Cincinnati - Feb 2, 2004 - Harris has completed the fourth in a series of Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) digital radio demonstrations over the medium wave broadcast band for officials at Guang Dong Radio, Zhu Hai, China. Guang Dong Radio runs 80 radio stations and serves more than 60 million listeners in southern China. An existing Harris DX 10 medium wave AM radio transmitter was converted to DRM for the nine-day digital broadcast demonstration at the Zhu Hai transmission site.

The Harris DX series AM transmitters were prepared for DRM transmission in a one-hour upgrade session.

Tauzin Resigns as Committee Chairman

Washington - Feb 3, 2004 - Rep. Billy Tauzin announced to House Republican leaders that he will step down as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and that he will not seek re-election in the fall. The statement was made in a letter to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (IL-R).

Tauzin's chairman resignation takes effect on Feb. 15, which will allow the committee to make a smooth transition to its new chairman.

Tauzin became chairman of the committee in 2001. Rep. Joe L. Barton (TX-R) has stated that he seeks the job as chairman. Barton currently serves as chairman of the Commerce Committee's energy and air quality subcommittee.

Mainstream Network Launches

Bangor, ME - Feb 4, 2004 - Radio consultant Guy Zapoleon has partnered with Christian Netcast to launch the Mainstream Network. The company will offer Internet streaming services to radio stations.

Along with Zapoleon, Mainstream Network co-founders John Elliott, David Palmer and Todd VanTasel currently operate ChristianNetcast.com, which provides streaming services to Christian radio stations and ministries. Launched in 2000, Christian Netcast has more than 200 radio stations and clients from the United States and abroad.

Eventide Ships Reverb, Octavox Plug-ins

Little Ferry, NJ - Feb 3, 2004 - The Reverb and Octavox Harmonizer diatonic pitch shifter plug-ins for Pro Tools for Mac v5.1.3 or greater, are now shipping. The plug-ins are available from authorized Eventide software dealers.

Octavox allows users to create stacked harmonies and wide choirs locked to the tempo of the session. The GUI contains everything needed to load, edit and save a preset, and allows access to the pitch shifting capabilities, as well as providing musical control of the pitch and delays using the Notation Grid. Each Reverb type offers three-band stereo parametric equalization before and after the reverb, reverb contour for built-in tone shaping, a pair of delay lines with filters and a high-quality compressor.

Studer Ships First On-Air 3000 Console

Radio 24 Technical Manager Gerry Borer with the On-Air 3000.

Zurich, Switzerland - Feb 3, 2004 - The first Studer On-Air 3000 digital production and broadcasting console to be installed is now in service at Radio 24 in Zurich, Switzerland. The 12-fader console is being used for commercial production and will shortly be joined by two more consoles for the on-air studios. Radio 24's newsroom also has been equipped with five three-fader units, which are networked to the On-Air 3000’s central processor enabling journalists to record and transmit news items directly from their workstations.

The On-Air 3000 combines the Studer Touch'n'Action user interface with a new fanless DSP processing engine called the S-Core. This system is based on a range of individual stand-alone modules, the choice of which may be adapted to each location. The system may also be controlled remotely from a PC or laptop using a network connection if required.