(OP-ED) FCC Hear FM Engineering Proposal

7-2-14

Last Tuesday, Carl Haynes of WRTM-FM and I had the tremendous privilege of meeting with FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Ajit Pai to discuss a pending engineering proposal before the Commission that could allow for hundreds of Class A FM radio stations to double their effective radiated power levels. The plan would also permit certain stations to realize specific service improvements to their signals without interfering with the protected contours of other facilities.

The commissioners, along with their respective chiefs of staff, were presented with a letter of support for the proposal, which was co-signed by 134 broadcasters representing 616 stations (see the letter online at http://www.wyab.com/petition/). The supporters of the plan are quite diverse, including single-station owners and large-group operators alike, NAB board members, LPFM managers, and even stand-alone AM licensees.

It was clear that both commissioners and their staffs are genuinely concerned with the signal reception problems that often plague small broadcasters.

SSR Communications, Inc., licensee of WYAB 103.9 FM in Flora, Mississippi, co-drafted the petition with the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council in 2012, filing the request formally with the FCC in January, 2013 (view the petition in its entirety at http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=6017160905). The Commission has yet to issue a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, despite broad support for the idea.

If adopted in full, the proposal would create an intermediate power class for stations located in Zone II (generally, those licensees located in rural states). Situated in between FM Class A and FM Class C3, the new FM Class C4 allocation would allow eligible stations to specify a maximum effective radiated power level of 12,000 watts from a reference antenna height above average terrain of 100 meters. The petitioners found that approximately one-third of all Zone II Class A FM stations may be eligible to apply for the C4 class, corresponding to many hundreds of upgrade opportunities for small broadcasters.

The petition also asks the Commission to allow operators who propose specific service-area improvements to protect certain under-built neighboring stations to their actual signal contours via Section 73.215, rather than hypothetical maximum contours, provided that the affected under-built station has operated below its class maximum parameters (or equivalent thereof) for the immediate preceding 10-year period.

Given the many hundreds of stations that could improve their service areas, millions of additional potential listeners added without interference to existing stations, the economic benefit of funds allocated to new transmitters, antennas, consultants, FCC attorney fees, and every other positive aspect associated with this proposal, it is time for the Commission to bring this petition out for comment and issue a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking without delay.

Matthew Wesolowski is the general manager of WYAB 103.9 FM/Flora, MS.
He can be contacted at: 601-201-2789 / matt@wyab.com

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Trautmann Wins Engineering Award

7-15-13

Dial Global Chief Technology Officer Conrad Trautmann has been named ?Chapter Engineer of the Year? by the Society of Broadcast Engineers? Chapter 15, which serves the New York City metro area. Trautmann is the first recipient of this new award, which recognizes the efforts of a specific individual who best furthers the goals and objectives of their SBE chapter and provides an outstanding example of local/regional leadership and ethics.

Trautmann oversees the company?s broadcast engineering, program distribution, back-office IT, and software development. He is a nationally-recognized and respected leader in the broadcast engineering field, with prior senior engineering positions at Dial Global, Westwood One, Metro Networks, Cox Radio, and Chancellor Media. He has managed and supervised the creation and construction of world-class studios in broadcast facilities around the country.

?Receiving SBE Chapter 15?s first Engineer of the Year award is truly an honor," said Trautmann. "Collaborating with the other member broadcast engineers in the NY metropolitan area over the years has been extremely rewarding and inspiring. It is especially gratifying to be recognized now while we are integrating new technologies and breaking new ground at Dial Global.?

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Engineering Pioneer John Battison Dead at 96.

8-29-2012

Battison was a broadcasting engineer whose career spanned more than seven decades. He wrote 15 technical books and more than 500 articles for publication. He also served as technical editor for Radio magazine and was a frequent contributor to Broadcast Engineering magazine. Battison may best be remembered for initiating a movement that lead to the creation of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. It's an organization he initiated and one that now includes over 5,500 members.

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Premiere Promotes Hickey to VP of Engineering

4-5-2012

In his new position, Bill Hickey will now be responsible for directing all studio operations and administration, while continuing to oversee engineering and technical operations for Premiere Networks? studio facilities nationwide, including Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Chicago and Florida.  Hickey will also continue to manage the company?s XDS satellite and internet-based delivery systems, Network Operations Center, and other studio and construction projects, as well as supervise a team of nearly 50 employees. 

Hickey joined Premiere Networks as director of engineering in 2004, and was promoted to vice president a year later.  During his tenure, he has been involved in many studio construction projects for national radio personalities, including Delilah, Jim Rome and Steve Harvey, and was on the team for the custom development of the XDS system (PRO4-P).  Prior to joining Premiere, Hickey served as the director of engineering for KGO-AM in San Francisco from 1997-2004.  Before that, he was the chief engineer for Buck Owens Production Company (KUZZ-TV) in Bakersfield, California.  Hickey currently resides in Hollywood, CA. 

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Alabama Broadcasters Start Engineering Academy

12-16-2011

The Alabama Broadcasters Association has established a Broadcast Engineering Academy in Hoover, AL. The association says the new academy is in response to the growing need for engineers across Alabama and the entire country. The ABA Broadcast Engineering Academy will create apprenticeship and internship programs to place students at Alabama stations to gain more practical experience. The training facility will be completed and curriculum established in time to conduct the first classes in late May, 2012.

Alabama Broadcasters Association President Sharon Tinsley said, ?this exciting opportunity is a perfect example of the ABA listening to the needs of its members and the industry as a whole and then creating solutions for those needs.?  The Association is working with the Society of Broadcast Engineers to ensure that the ABA?s Academy will be an eligible SBE certified training institute.  In addition, the ABA is partnering with a local career college to establish a pilot program with their Network and Electrical Engineering students.  Alabama member radio and TV stations will be encouraged to send employees to the Academy for additional training.  Other state broadcast associations will also be invited to send students to the Academy.

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