6-30-14
At last week?s board meeting Bruce Dumont says he stepped down as Chairman of the National Radio Hall of Fame Steering Committee. He then appointed new board member Kraig Kitchin as Chairman and named naming Dennis Green and Karole White as Vice Chairs of the Committee. Dumont said he will remain an Ex officio member of the Committee?and can now actually vote - and looks forward to participating in future deliberations.
10-23-13
Barbara D. Marmet, the founder, president, and chief executive of WAFY (Key 103.1 FM) in Frederick, MD, died Oct. 20 at a hospital in Raleigh, N.C. She was 88. The cause was a stroke, said a son, Richard.
Mrs. Marmet settled in the Washington area in 1953 and did volunteer work for the American Red Cross, the Navy League, the private Landon and St. Albans schools, and the United Way. She and her husband, a communications lawyer, moved to Frederick from Bethesda in 1984, and she continued her involvement in civic and community affairs groups. In 1990, she started the radio station, which played contemporary pop hits. She sold it 15 years later.
Mrs. Marmet had been a resident of Boca Grande, Fla., since 2002.
9-28-2012
Colleagues and friends are mourning the passing of Steve Church, engineer, entrepreneur, talk show host, and founder of Telos Systems and the Telos Alliance, a coalition of broadcast technology companies. Over the past thirty years Church created many of the products that ushered broadcasting into the digital age. Radio Ink Magazine Publisher Eric Rhoads said, "Steve was one of the brightest, most innovative people I've ever known. His ideas were revolutionary and changed the radio industry. His passing is a big loss for our industry."
Steve was born in San Diego, California, and began his broadcast engineering career in 1975 at WFMK in Lansing, Mich. He later worked at W4 (WWWW) in Detroit before moving to Indianapolis, Indiana to become chief engineer at WFBQ/WNDE. Church?s first innovation transformed the sound of radio talk shows. Having hosted such shows in addition to his engineering duties, he was frustrated by the poor sound delivered by the analog telephone adapters then in use, which were plagued by sidetone distortion. The problem was thought to be unsolvable even by Bell Labs engineers, but by applying DSP adaptive filtering, Church solved the problem and was able to eliminate sidetone distortion. This became the basis for his first product, the Telos 10 telephone hybrid, and Telos Systems was launched in 1985 as a part-time project.
Church later moved to Cleveland to become chief engineer of WMMS/WHK, still building the company in his spare time. Sales of the Telos 10 telephone hybrid increased, to the point that Church decided to quit his day job and commit to his company full-time. The rest, as they say, is history.
Church?s second breakthrough changed the way radio stations do remote broadcasts. What was once an expensive, complex and time-consuming undertaking with long distance telephone lines or satellite links was simplified when Church combined then-new MP3 audio coding with ISDN technology. The result was the Telos Zephyr, which enabled stations to set up and transmit broadcast quality point-to-point digital audio in a matter of seconds. Zephyr has since become the most successful digital broadcast audio product of all time.
Next, Church applied packet switching and Ethernet technology to the routing of audio signals around the broadcast plant. The result was Livewire IP-Audio, which employs a linear audio-over-IP method. This technology has fundamentally altered broadcast studio infrastructure and spurred a new wave of signal routing within broadcast plants.
At the heart of Steve?s work was a deep, abiding love for the medium of radio itself, a love manifested since childhood. He wrote, in 2008:
?Radio is a bit like a kiss, no? When passion takes a grip, a kiss connects two humans in an exchange of secrets and emotions. We kiss furtively, lasciviously, gently, shyly, hungrily and exuberantly. We kiss in broad daylight and in the dead of night. We give ceremonial kisses, affectionate kisses, Hollywood air kisses, kisses of death and (in fairytales) pecks that revive princesses. At its best, and in our imagination, radio has such a variety, and a similar power."
?It is well-known that one?s lifelong musical taste is pretty much imprinted during the teen years. Our connection to radio might be, as well. How many of us, during those sensitive years, listening to a great DJ or talk host, decided we wanted to be a part of that? ? Think about the vast numbers of people for whom work is just work, and consider how fortunate we are to have found a vocation bound in such a way to our
inner spirit.?
Church fought a three-year battle with brain cancer. He passed away quietly at his home near Cleveland, on September 28, 2012. He is survived by his loving wife Lana, stepson Dimitri, mother Jacqueline Burgess, and brothers Brent Church, Dann Church and Todd Church. He was 57 years old. Steve Church ? 1955 - 2012
(9/29/2012 9:54:11 PM)
Steve was 56-years-old.
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He forever changed the way young people spend their entertainment time. And at Radio Ink's Convergence '12, you'll hear from Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari Corp. Bushnell. Bushnell is called the "father of the video game industry" You are registered for Convergence aren't you? Bushnell is a REAL innovator. Steve Jobs once worked for him. And Leonardo DiCaprio is going to play him in a movie.
"Nolan is a legend in Silicon Valley and known for his game-changing innovation," Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads says. "He continually reinvents industries and will share some very strong feelings about media and where it's going. It's a rare opportunity to have Nolan on the stage, and it should not be missed.
Bushnell, a sought-after speaker with a big personality and a quick wit, also founded the Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theater chain along with, over the past 40 years or so, tech incubator Catalyst Technologies; Etak, the first car-navigation system; personal robotics company Androbot; and ByVideo, the first online ordering system.
And what all that tells you is that he's a high-energy, original thinker with wide-ranging interests, and a constant eye on what's ahead. Bushnell, his shelves piled high with awards for his creative and entrepreneurial accomplishments, is currently turning his attention to both education and anti-aging technology.
Convergence is packed with speakers and panels that will give you the real, practical help and information you need for success in the digital era. Click HERE to see the agenda so far -- and there are lots of additions and updates to come. Convergence is coming up soon, and our hotel rooms are filling up. Go HERE to get all the info on the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara and to register online, or call 888-421-1442 and mention Radio Ink's Convergence to get the special $189 room rate.
We encourage you to bring your whole team to Convergence to listen and learn firsthand. Call 561-655-8778 for our special team discount: With three paid registrations, a fourth team member can attend for free.
Click HERE to register for Convergence online, or call 561-655-8778.