Senator Gregg Finds Flaws in MITRE Study

March 3, 2004 - New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wrote a letter on March 2 to FCC Chairman Michael Powell outlining his concerns with the recent MITRE report that was release by the FCC regarding adjacent-channel interference to radio receivers.

The letter states, "The conclusions in the report are based almost entirely upon one study conducted by the MITRE corporation on behalf of the FCC. The MITRE study contained several technical and methodological errors that adversely and prejudicially affected its results. Moreover, assuming findings from this flawed study led MITRE to disregard Congress’ specific request for an economic impact assessment."

Senator Gregg went on to outline the problems he sees, which include the following:

• The MITRE study disregarded accepted scientific methods. MITRE used just six radio receivers in its tests when the FCC had earlier indicated that 21 receivers was a statistically insignificant amount

• MITRE offered no public disclosure of the technical characteristics of the receivers, making it impossible to evaluate how the performance of these receivers relates to the measured interference.

• MITRE failed to use a common antenna in the test vehicle to ensure consistent reception.

• MITRE did not test any lower-adjacent channels for interference. Only the upper-third adjacent interferes were used in its study (in every instance, the frequency of the LPFM interfere was 600kHz greater than the full power FM signal). Previous research by the Consumer Electronic Association (CEA) shows that different receivers reject interference to varying degrees, and that many receivers reject upper and lower adjacent channel interferes by vastly different amounts.
  
  Gregg also pointed out that the MITRE test used only six test markets, rather than the nine authorized by Congress. Within these markets, MITRE analyzed only a handful of locations. Properly conducted field tests typically select numerous sites throughout a service area to characterize interference on a radio station because of the tremendous variability of reception based on terrain, environmental interference and other factors.
  
  Finally, the MITRE report did not include an economic analysis. Gregg stated that he assumes that there would be no measurable economic impact on broadcasters because of the faulty technical evaluation, which he states is in contrast to Congress' express direction.
  
  From the letter:
  

"In fact, even with this litany of technical flaws that prejudiced MITRE's findings, the study still found significant interference. MITRE tested six sites [that] the FCC would have licensed to LPFM applicants were it not for Congressional intervention. For each of these sites, by MITRE's own admission, 'significant interference' to full-power FM stations from LPFM stations operating on third-adjacent channels was observed. MITRE, in its study, apparently declined to conduct an economic analysis because it assumed that the purported lack of interference demonstrated that there would be no measurable economic impact. That assumption is false and irrelevant. Congress did not link the requirement of an economic impact study to any finding of interference. Congress simply wanted to know what the effect on small market and minority broadcasters would be, should third adjacent channel protections be altered and hundreds or thousands of new LPFM stations authorized."

Senator Gregg has requested that Chairman Powell provide the reasons for the mandated provisions, along with the scientifically accepted testing methodologies were eliminated from consideration of this study.

Worldspace Launches Global Subscription Campaign

Washington, DC - Mar 4, 2004 - Worldspace has made its multinational satellite radio subscription plan available across the Worldspace Satellite Radio global footprint, which covers Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The initial target market for phase one of the global subscription roll out will be American and British expatriates living and working abroad, including the U.S. military.

The subscription offering will be available for US$9.99 with special additional receiver subscription and multi-year incentives.

Worldspace Satellite Radio began broadcasting in 1999 with all channels free to listeners with the purchase of portable digital satellite radio receivers. Worldspace says that the programming it will offer with this package is largely unavailable from the terrestrial radio present in the countries it will serve.

New EAS Event Codes Take Effect in June

Mar 4, 2004 - On Feb. 26, 2002, the FCC issued a Report and Order amending the Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules. The R&O became effective May 16, 2002. As part of the R&O, the FCC adopted numerous new civil emergency, weather and natural disaster event codes and National Weather Service's (NWS) marine area location codes. The complete list of EAS event codes (also known as NWR-SAME Codes) is shown below. The codes are distinguished between those in use today and those the NWS will implement on NOAA Weather Radio on June 30, 2004. NWR and the EAS use identical digital protocols, and NWR is the primary means for NWS alerts to activate the Emergency Alert System.

The reason for the delay between the effective date of the R&O and the NWS implementation of the new codes is that broadcasters needed time to upgrade their EAS encoder/decoder equipment to implement many of the changes in this R&O. If EAS equipment is not upgraded, the new event codes being implemented by NWS on June 30 will cause unknown event code operator alarms. Most broadcasters have upgraded their equipment, so NWS is making final preparations to proceed.

The FCC Report and Order that became effective May 16, 2002, establishes naming conventions for the new and future EAS event codes. In most cases, and for all future codes to be approved, the third letter of all hazardous state and local event codes is will be limited to one of four letters:

• "W" for warnings

• "A" for watches

• "E" for emergencies

• "S" for statements
  
  The existing event codes for Tornado Warning (TOR), Severe Thunderstorm Warning (SVR) and Evacuation Immediate (EVI) will not be changed to conform to this naming convention.

CBI Announces Student Production Award Competition

Orban Announces Spring MBL Tour Dates

Tempe, AZ - Mar 4, 2004 - Orban/CRL has announced the dates and cities for the Orban/CRL Mobile Broadcast Laboratory (MBL) USA Tour 2004 second quarter visits. Radio stations, TV stations, SBE meetings and state broadcast conventions will host the traveling exhibition. Broadcasters will have the opportunity to see demonstrations of Orban and CRL broadcast equipment in their home town as the Orban/CRL Mobile Broadcast Laboratory goes from city to city throughout 2004.

The MBL unit is a fully-equipped 33-foot mobile vehicle that has been converted to permit testing and demonstrations of Orban and CRL products and provide comparisons with other products. The MBL also carries kiosks with rack-mounted displays of Orban/CRL's entire product line.

Air Tools Dealers Announced

Mountlake Terrace, WA - Feb 24, 2004 - Symetrix has appointed broadcast dealers who will represent the Air Tools line of audio-for-broadcast products. Symetrix added these dealers to address the rapidly growing needs of broadcasters coping with streaming Web media, direct satellite broadcasting and increased complexity in traditional radio and TV broadcasting.

The dealers are:

• Bradley Broadcast - Frederick, MD

• Broadcast Supply Worldwide - Tacoma, WA

• Broadcasters General Store - Ocala, FL

• Crouse-Kimzey Company - Dallas, TX

• Dale Pro Audio - New York, NY

• Giesler Broadcast Supply - Houston, TX

• Harris - Mason, OH

• RF Specialties of Missouri - Kearney, MO

• SCMS - Pineville, NC

Cincinnati Gets BPL Service

Cincinnati - Mar 2, 2004 - Cinergy Broadband and Current Communications Group are beginning to offer broadband over power line (BPL) services in the greater Cincinnati area. A subsequent expansion is planned for Northern Kentucky and Indiana.

Cinergy Broadband and Current have formed a joint venture that will roll out broadband services under the brand Current Communications. Initially, these services will consist of high-speed Internet and will eventually be bundled with voice over IP (VoIP).

The companies have also created a second joint venture to pursue the deployment of BPL to targeted municipal-owned power companies and rural electric cooperatives across the United States.

Independent Audio Appointed North American Distributor For Pyramid Speakers

Portland, ME - Feb 23, 2004 - Independent Audio, a distributor of European professional audio products, has added a Made-in-America product to its line-up for the first time. Triple P Designs has selected Independent Audio as the exclusive North American distributor for the Pyramid Reference Monitors manufactured in Washington, DC.

The Pyramids are studio reference speakers that emulate the effects of consumer playback systems with limited frequency response such as TVs, boom boxes, computer speakers and car stereos. They allow mixing engineers to compensate for the difference in sound between high fidelity studio speakers and the end user's playback system.

Texas Instruments and Radioscape Hot in Eureka Chip Sales

Dallas - Mar 1, 2004 - According to the latest figures from GfK, independent auditors of the home electronics market, Texas Instruments technology is showing consistent acceptance of its DAB radio designs by major companies, such as Hitachi, Roberts Radio, Acoustic Solutions and Intempo Digital. Spurred by the availability of receivers based on the TI-based Radioscape modules in September, the UK DAB radio market saw tremendous growth leading up to the Christmas 2003 holiday season.

In December, there was a major peak in demand with 133,000 UK DAB radio sales, accounting for more than 44 percent of the total year's sales of 300,000.

Clear Channel Installs More IBOC

Cincinnati - Mar 2, 2004 - Clear Channel has tapped Harris to supply digital-ready DAX AM low-power transmitters to five stations: WDOV-AM, Wilmington, DE; WCHV-AM, Charlottesville, VA; WMXF-AM, Asheville, NC; and Montana stations, KBUL-AM, Billings and KGVO-AM, Missoula.

WDOV and KGVO will install DAX 6kW transmitters, while WCHV and KBUL have chosen DAX 5kW transmitters. WMXF will install a DAX 1kW. With the DAX AM transmitters, the stations can broadcast an analog signal now and upgrade to IBOC by adding the Harris Dexstar HD Radio AM exciter at a later date.

Studer Sells Largest On Air 5000 System

Lugano, Switzerland - Mar 1, 2004 - The Studer On Air 5000 is the largest in the company's range of radio consoles, and Radio Svizzera Italiana, part of Swiss Public Broadcaster SRG, has recently installed one of the largest On Air 5000 systems to date in its Lugano studios.

The system comprises a master control room with a Studer Route 5000 switcher and five on-air/production studios with On Air 5000 consoles, as well as a single Studer Vista 7 digital production console for post-production. The broadcaster operates three networks using Studer Digimedia playout systems, while a remote news studio for parliamentary reports uses a Studer 928 analog console.

Esoteric Audio Research Taps Independent Audio as Distributor

Portland, ME - Feb 17, 2004 - British professional audio product manufacturer Esoteric Audio Research (EAR) has appointed Independent Audio as its exclusive distributor for the United States. EAR has made tube-based professional audio products in Cambridge, UK, for more than 25 years.

The products are designed by Tim de Paravicini. One unique element to the products are the custom-designed audio transformers.

The company's present line-up includes a stereo mic preamplifier, three Pultec-type equalizers, a Fairchild-type compressor/limiter and some custom-built analog tape machines.

Sonotechnique to Distribute Airr Support

Toronto - Mar 1, 2004 - Airr Support, a manufacturer of large studio boom microphone stands for the recording and broadcast industries, has appointed Sonotechnique as its exclusive distributor in Canada. Sonotechnique will handle distribution of the complete line of Airr microphone stands. The stands are available in three different model sizes. All Airr Support stands come with removable wheel tri-pod, two sandbags for extra counterweight and a gig bag for location projects.

XM Launches Traffic And Weather Service

Washington D.C. - Mar 1, 2004 - XM Satellite Radio has introduced an instant traffic and weather service for major markets nationwide. The XM Instant Traffic and Weather service provides 21 channels of traffic and weather information for the nation's most traffic-congested metropolitan areas. The information is updated continuously for each market.

Each major metro market has its own dedicated channel that will provide travel times and average speeds for major roadways provided by Traffic Pulse technology. In addition, the system will display AMBER Alerts and other public safety notifications on air and printed on the radio display.

The service will employ a dedicated staff of more than 40 traffic and weather personnel supported by a nationwide network of traffic data collectors.

In the first phase of a national rollout of 21 Instant Traffic and Weather channels, XM launched its Washington, DC, channel on Feb. 28 and will launch 14 additional channels with dedicated traffic and weather information for the following metro areas: New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, Houston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Tampa, Orlando, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. Channels for the six remaining markets -- Boston, Atlanta, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Seattle and San Diego -- will be introduced later in 2004. XM's Instant Traffic and Weather channels are broadcast nationally and available to all XM subscribers at no additional cost.

Dielectric Acquires Kline Towers

Charlotte, NC - Mar 2, 2004 - SPX has announced that its Dielectric division has acquired the assets of Kline Towers, a division of Kline Iron and Steel. Based in Columbia, SC, Kline Towers had annual revenues in 2003 of more than $10 million.

Kline Towers engineers, designs, assembles, fabricates and installs towers for the global broadcast markets. With 40 years of experience, Kline has recognized expertise in engineering tall and multi-array towers and platform structures.

Quantec Appoints Independent Audio as North American Distributor

Portland, ME - Feb 27, 2004 - German pro audio manufacturer Quantec has selected Independent Audio as its exclusive North American distributor for its entire product range of effects processors. Independent Audio will also provide support and service for the North American customers.

Quantec manufactures the Yardstick room simulator, and will soon debut the Yardstick 2496 six-channel audio effects processor in March 2004.

Arbitron to Revamp Internet Broadcast Services

New York - Feb 27, 2004 - Arbitron has announced plans to revamp the offerings of its Internet Broadcast Services division. The company will cease monthly and weekly Measurecast ratings, which measure the audiences of audio content on the Internet, on Sunday, March 28, 2004. Arbitron plans to offer a revised service for Internet broadcasters that will be better aligned with the needs of the market.

Arbitron will continue to document the size and growth of the Internet broadcasting audience through its Internet studies. It will also offer consumer lifestyle and shopping data from Scarborough Research. Additional plans are to offer custom research options to help bring Internet broadcasting into advertisers' media plans.

Sirius to Provide Traffic and Weather to Top 20 Markets

New York - Feb 27, 2004 - Sirius Satellite Radio will provide around-the-clock traffic and weather reports for the top 20 traffic markets, beginning with New York and Los Angeles on Feb. 29 on Sirius stream 150. Sirius First Traffic will broadcast traffic conditions from monitoring centers located around the country.

The Sirius resources include a fleet of helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, ground monitors and traffic cameras. Sirius First Traffic will be presented in conjunction with Smart Route Systems, a Westwood One company. Weather information will come from The Weather Channel.

By the end of March 2004, traffic and weather for Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco-San Jose, Boston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Seattle, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Phoenix, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Baltimore and San Diego will be added to the Sirius lineup. Reports for all markets will be available to all Sirius subscribers via the Sirius national satellite broadcasting system at no additional cost over the basic monthly subscription.

Avcom Names Director of Sales

Richmond, VA - Feb 20, 2004 - Avcom of Virginia has appointed Pat Piper as director of worldwide sales. Piper brings more than 20 years experience in the satellite industry to Avcom, including 16 years with Midwest Communications/Harris Broadcast, designing, building and selling SNG trucks and satellite earth stations. In addition, he was sales manager for MCL and ETM selling satellite transmitters, and most recently served as satellite product manager for Richardson Electronics.

Nevens Joins Digidesign

Daly City, CA - Mar 2, 2003 - Digidesign has hired Rich Nevens as director of worldwide console sales. Nevens is based in Los Angeles and will oversee the sales for Digidesign's mixing systems. In addition, he will contribute to marketing and development for the product line.

Previously, Nevens worked at Euphonix for 12 years and ended his tenure as executive vice president of sales for the Americas.

Sennheiser Launches Redesigned Website

RF Software Offers Free Software

Mackie Tracktion Now Available Online

Burk Technology Extends Trade-In Offer