The author of this commentary is engineer/project manager for American Amplifier Technologies. This is excerpted from the free ebook “Trends in Remote Control & Facility Management.”

Today I was thinking about the remote control at my first radio job. 

We used a 950 MHz STL to send audio and control information to the transmitter site and a 450 MHz TSL to return meter readings. We were reasonably happy to have forward and reflected power readings, the all-important ability to turn the transmitter on and off, raise and lower power, and, of course, a fail-safe wired to turn off the transmitter if the STL were to die. 

Beyond that, however, we had to guess. 

If the station went off, a lack of response from the remote control probably meant the utility power was off and the generator hadn’t started. But it also could mean the STL transmitter had failed, so we had to stop and look at the STL transmitter before driving to the transmitter site. 

And because we knew so little, every time we were off air, we had to pack the truck with parts and tools to fix most anything that might be wrong.

Now we can look remotely at just about everything at the site, well beyond basic transmitter parameters … site temperature (inside and out), generator status, exact voltage from both utility and generator, not to mention live camera views of the transmitter, room and front door. 

Depending on what I learn remotely, instead of driving to the site, I might be able to simply shut off and restart power to one rack component to get back on the air. The beauty of current technology is that emergency trips to the transmitter site are rare. Which, honestly, is the core purpose for a remote control system.

The problem with the now antiquated system at my first station is that I could know only a tiny fraction of the available information about the equipment. Fortunately, it’s no longer necessary to view my equipment through a pinhole. 

In a time when staff and contractors are working harder and spreading their talents across multiple signals, having a basic remote control is now more expensive than upgrading. Making up for lack of information requires time, and unfortunately, it often means off-air time. 

By necessity, most engineers can’t get to the transmitter site as often as they would like, feeling lucky to schedule a quarterly site check and cleaning. Therefore, having more detailed access to information about these critical systems becomes even more important, and allows the engineer to make good decisions about when visiting the site has become a critical priority — reducing the chance that the call to visit the site is an off-air alarm.

Through SNMP, equipment at most stations now provides a wealth of knowledge beyond voltages or GPIO, but not all remote control systems can take full advantage of it. 

It’s important to look for systems that can fully leverage the information and control SNMP provides, such as AAT’s EmPower system. Far beyond being able to look at exciter readings, SNMP can provide information about specific devices within the transmitter, show audio input levels, and so on.

Remote control is only useful if the information and control are available where you are. For many years that meant walking (or running) to the remote control to find out what was going on. Now, products like EmPower put everything you need, literally, in your pocket. 

Anywhere you have connectivity, you can receive alarms, evaluate readings and adjust parameters. It’s no longer necessary to drop everything to deal with a transmitter site problem — often a few seconds in the app will show what’s going on and allow on-the-fly adjustments. 

Security is also an essential component of your remote-control system, as the last thing anyone needs is to give an unauthorized party control over the transmitter. 

Security may involve careful implementation of firewalls or other protection options. EmPower uses a secure cloud service, making it easy to control who has what access. Now it’s possible to ask the board op or consultant to check readings or reset components, as desired, while keeping the bad guys out.

Reflected power readings used to be the only way to monitor the health of the antenna system. 

For example, water entering the antenna system used to be invisible. It would silently creep in over weeks or months, and unless someone happened to notice a very tiny change in reflected power, no one had any idea. Then suddenly, the station is off the air with catastrophic damage to the inside of the coax, something that’s very hard to fix quickly. 

Though AAT is happy to provide coax on short notice, it would be better to know about the problem before it was a disaster — knowledge that reflected power isn’t likely to provide. 

To help solve this blind spot, AAT can add vector network analysis to EmPower with its VNA option. The Empower VNA module can evaluate the health of the system in real time — while you’re on the air — and allow you to set alarms that will trigger whenever the antenna system changes from baseline measurements.

Thankfully, guessing what’s happening at the transmitter site is no longer a necessity because remote control technology has indeed come a long way.

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Ebooks Here]

The post Remote Control Technology Has Come a Long Way appeared first on Radio World.

Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are testimonials intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose products to solve various technical situations. This month’s focus is on-air audio processing.

The author is a transmission specialist for Primedia Broadcasting. He is responsible for the transmission operations of 947/702 in Johannesburg and KFM/CapeTalk 567 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The word emoji owes its humble origins to the combination of two Japanese words for “picture” and “letter,” adding dimension to what otherwise would have been a “flat” or unemotive text message.

Primedia Broadcasting kicked off the year with a fun and modern out-of-home billboard campaign for CapeTalk 567, featuring today’s lingo.

While CapeTalk 567 prides itself on keeping things “real” with listeners through its programming content, there are technical systems that must work together to get the audio to its listeners as accurately and efficiently as possible.

CapeTalk 567 has been on the air for 28 years, primarily through its medium-wave footprint, serviced by a 25 kW transmitter on the outskirts of Cape Town operated by signal distribution service provider Sentech. It also streams its audio via the Primedia Plus app and as well as the DSTV Audio Bouquet (Channel 885).

For every commercial station on the radio “dial” (be they AM, FM or digital OTT platforms), there’s an ongoing conversation about how audio can be suitably “enhanced.” This is part of creating the sonic signature that adds to the listener’s experience when tuning into a particular station.

Broadcast audio processing over the years has remained a contentious topic for radio’s creative and engineering teams. Suffice it to say, the audio processor brings together the efforts of two diverse endeavours.

From an engineering perspective, the processor takes the lead in ensuring the transmission parameters (i.e. peak modulation) are always fully respected.

The “artistic” component considers how the audio is to be manipulated to create a particular sonic signature, through increasing perceived loudness along with achieving overall consistency of the program material.

There have been changes over the last 20 years or so that have affected audio quality on traditional transmission platforms.

In the world of medium-wave AM, it is both important and appropriate to maximize the density of the received audio, to ensure the audio remains intelligible.

External noise from devices such as LED lighting, laptops, computer power supplies and electric fences may impinge on a listener’s receiver, causing degradation in overall intelligibility. Studies have shown that this increase of external noise has been as much as 20 dB.

The only mitigation would be to increase audio density.

Years ago CapeTalk 567 had elected, via service provider Sentech, to use an Orban 9200 Optimod AM, which was installed at the transmitter site. This was at the time a departure from the traditional “analog” style of processing, as it made use of digital signal processing techniques.

Through investigation and listening tests, we found that the internal processing architecture of the 9200 presented some limitations for allowing a significant increase in audio density without degrading overall audio intelligibility.

It was clear that enhancing the audio quality of CapeTalk 567 now would require replacing the processor. I considered the options and elected Orban’s XPN-AM, purchased through Orban’s SA representative Prosound. They have been responsible for Orban’s South African sales and support since 1980.

The XPN-AM would be installed at Primedia’s Greenpoint studio facility. The 9200 would be retained as a backup at the transmitter site.

Having two independent audio processing paths within the XPN — one feeding the present AM signal and the other feeding both audio stream/DSTV platforms — provided us the maximum benefit for our signals, and the added benefit of being able to adjust the unit remotely rather than while standing in front of it.

The XPN’s processing enhancements have benefited CapeTalk 567’s on-air signals. Station Manager Tessa van Staden and Technical Operations Coordinator Brett Kannemeyer both have noted improvements in audio intelligibility, clarity and consistency across its broadcast platforms.

A further significant benefit is in the processor’s application to AM systems that permit the use of Modulation-Dependent Carrier Level technology, the dynamic reduction in carrier levels with the change in modulation levels.

MDCL can produce significant savings in transmitter energy consumption, an important consideration for AM radio stations. MDCL implementation is a priority for the Sentech-owned Nautel NX25 transmitter later this year.

The post CapeTalk 567 Keeps It Real With XPN-AM appeared first on Radio World.

Cumulus Media has released its 2025 financial results, and the data offers a better sense of the urgency surrounding its bankruptcy reorganization announcement in March.

Cumulus reported net revenue for the year of $742 million, a decrease of 10.3% from $827 million from 2024.

The media company’s net loss last year totaled $201 million.

As we have previously reported, Cumulus seeks to eliminate roughly $592 million in debt in a prepackaged reorganization with lenders in bankruptcy court. As part of the reorganization, Cumulus will become a private company.

A hearing to consider compliance with the bankruptcy code’s disclosure requirements, any objections and confirmation of the broadcaster’s plan will be held before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alfredo Perez in Houston on April 15.

Observers told us that the judge’s approval could come as early as May.

“The company’s recently announced financial restructuring marks an important step toward meaningfully reducing the debt burden that has constrained the business,” Mary Berner, Cumulus’ president and CEO, said in a statement.

For the fourth quarter of 2025, Cumulus reported net revenue of $188 million, a decrease of 14% from the same three months the year prior, and a net loss of $135 million in in Q4 2025.

Revenue breakdown

Broadcast revenue dominated Cumulus’ totals for the year. It reported $339 million of spot revenue, down 13% from 2024, and $136 million from its Westwood One audio network operations for 2025.

Digital, which includes the Cumulus Podcast Network, totaled $151 million, which was down 2% YoY. Another $116 million in annual revenue was attributed to “other” revenue.   

The Atlanta-based broadcaster finished the year with roughly $670 million of debt. Cumulus said in its bankruptcy filing that its debt had become unsustainable due to unrelenting challenges such as increasing competition from digital audio and streaming platforms, changes in the advertising market and recurring annual declines in its radio audiences.

“Looking ahead, we remain focused on building on the core strengths of the company to maximize value,” Berner said.

Cumulus, which has 393 owned-and-operated radio stations across 84 markets, did manage to shrink expenses in 2025. It said operating expenses last year were $880 million, which were down from just over a billion dollars in 2024. It reported having a total of 2,862 employees, 2,078 of whom were employed full-time.

The company’s most recent balance sheet reported capital expenditures of $20.2 million in 2025.

According to court documents, Cumulus recently reached agreements to retain its top leadership throughout the bankruptcy process and through the end of 2026. That includes the 66-year old Berner, and CFO Francisco Lopez-Balboa, age 65.

The media company remains embroiled in a lawsuit with Nielsen regarding the ratings company’s bundled ratings policy, though the case was paused by a federal judge after Cumulus filed for reorganization in March. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas also issued a stay in the countersuit by Nielsen.

(Read Cumulus Media’s 2025 earnings release.)

The post For Cumulus, Financial Losses Were Mounting Before Its Chapter 11 Filing appeared first on Radio World.

The latest round in a back-and-forth surrounding interference complaints from a full-power station near the North Carolina/Virginia border has resulted in a Federal Communications Commission order for the translator in question to shut down for now.

We’ve covered the interference complaints that stem back to the fall of 2024 from Lakes Media, the owner of Class C3 98.3 WLUS(FM) in Clarksburg, Va. Its antenna is located just across the North Carolina state line in Granville County.

After Lakes Media’s first interference complaint, the FCC ordered same-channel W252EL(FM), a 150-watt “Rock FM” translator licensed to Cary, N.C., to go silent until it could implement a directional antenna pattern that avoided overlap with the WLUS 45 dBu contour.

The owner of the translator, Curtis Media, said it did so, and it returned to the air last September under program test authority. Curtis filed an application for a license to cover the new facility.

(Read the commission’s decision.)

Lakes Media President Tom Birch quickly filed an opposition, arguing the application should be denied because WLUS was again suffering harmful interference.

The parties went back and forth some more. Curtis Media alleged that Birch repeatedly suggested paying $500,000 to settle the matter, “indicating that profit motives, not the interests of its listeners,” underpin Lakes’ interference allegations, according to the commission’s account.

Then in November, Birch and Lakes filed 10 listener complaints within WLUS’ protected 45 dBu contour, each plotted on a map, as well as signal strength data from each listener location.

“After enduring this three times since 2016, I am outraged that there are no FCC provisions for interference violators to be liable for reimbursing all of the expense incurred by the injured parties,” Birch told Radio World.

Birch ventured that Lakes Media spent “tens of thousands” of dollars in legal and technical expenses in trying to prove the interference.

Curtis argued that the latest exhibit was invalid because, among other reasons, nine of the listener complaints were clustered around the immediate neighborhood of Birch’s Raleigh-area residence.

“While the commission’s FM translator interference complaint process requires complaints to be from ‘separate receivers at separate locations,’ the commission surely did not envision ‘separate locations’ to mean more than a half-dozen houses in the same compact subdivision,” Curtis wrote.

The translator owner also argued those complaints should have been originally included in Birch’s 2024 filing. It further argued that its new antenna pattern, in terms of interference, was not being properly considered without the use of higher resolution terrain samples.

But the commission rejected Curtis’ argument about terrain accuracy and said that there is no rule or precedent supporting its claim “that listener complainants may not be clustered in a single neighborhood.”

All told, the Media Bureau found the latest evidence from WLUS compelling. While it cautioned Lakes and Birch against any possible abuse of process arising from financial settlement, it said that WLUS could not have collected the second round of listener complaints regarding the new pattern until it was actually on the air.

It found the complaints valid and, as a result, the Cary translator must shut down immediately. Curtis must first demonstrate, prior to any operation or processing of its new application, that it has resolved all listener complaints submitted by Lakes Media.

Radio World has also invited comment from Curtis Media.

[Do you receive the Radio World SmartBrief newsletter each weekday morning? We invite you to sign up here.]

The post FCC Orders North Carolina Translator Back Off the Air for Interference appeared first on Radio World.

With CBS News Radio about to sunset, a new operator will unveil a news network promising several technological advancements.

Live Channel USA is announcing the launch of the Radio Network News Service for U.S. stations. A bridge service will be available for affiliates beginning May 23 — one day after CBS News Radio is scheduled to shut down.

While the network has roots in European broadcast technology and maintains a global hub in London, the rollout — which Live Channel calls the “Change Bulletin Supplier” initiative — is designed for the U.S. market, according to founder Dan Warren.

The network follows a traditional barter model, providing top-of-the-hour and half-hourly bulletins available in one-, three- or five-minute segments with a standard national commercial load.

Its primary differentiator, Warren says, is localization. RNN utilizes a cloud-based system to produce customized offerings designed to feel more like a regional partner.

“For example, a significant Florida story that might not make a national cut will still appear on our Florida affiliates’ bulletins but not in New York,” Warren said.

The full network will roll out on June 1. It is led by a veteran team with international broadcast experience from outlets such as Sky News, the BBC and CNN.

Stations interested in securing market exclusivity for the May 23 transition can view the schedule and technical specifications at the RNN website.

Live Channel USA is based in Daytona Beach, Fla. and works to bring content to FAST channels on connected television services.

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post RNN to Launch as Radio News Option for U.S. Stations appeared first on Radio World.

Three property owners in New York City have received “pirate radio letters” from the Federal Communications Commission.

The Notices of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting inform the owners that unlicensed FM signals were detected coming from their respective properties and that they could be liable for significant financial penalties.

An LLC received a notice about an FM signal on 89.3 MHz coming from its property on West 189th Street of Manhattan last September.

David Duchatellier of the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens received a notice about a signal on 90.1 MHz last November.

And Thomas J. Chavannes and Beverley Dixon-Chavannes, also of Jamaica, got a letter about a signal this past January on 91.9.

New York is one of the markets in which the commission does regular pirate enforcement sweeps. The FCC said it looked into these cases after receiving complaints.

Each owner was given 10 days to respond “by providing evidence that you are no longer permitting pirate radio broadcasting to occur” and requesting them to identify the people engaged in the alleged pirate radio broadcasting on the property.

[Related: “FCC Updates Congress on Pirate Enforcement”]

The post Three NYC Property Owners Get FCC “Pirate Letter” appeared first on Radio World.

He managed to work nearly 65 years in the biggest city in the U.S., and in doing so, earned the admiration of his broadcast engineering peers.

Richard Ross, a longtime chief engineer in New York City, died on Feb. 12 at the age of 89. He is survived by his daughter Erica, who shared many details with us from his life.

Ross joined 1280 WADO(AM) in the summer of 1972 as a relief engineer. By his count, he would withstand eight ownership changes until his retirement as chief engineer from Univision Radio in June 2020 at the age of 84.

Fellow engineers would call Ross frequently after his retirement, and for a time, he offered consulting services.

“He had a kind of Harry Potter-like knowledge of it all,” Erica said.

“Those who knew Richard lost a member of their family with his passing,” said Santos Lebron, engineering supervisor at Univision Radio New York.

Lebron’s relationship with Ross went back decades; they met when Lebron was hired as a relief engineer at WADO in 1977. He and others remembered Ross for being well-dressed and possessing a level-headedness, amicable toward all and harboring a bit of a mischievous side.

Ross knew of his fortune to work in the Big Apple for so many decades. “It is a rare occasion where one starts their career in any major city and they eventually work their way up the line to more important positions in major communications hubs,” he wrote in a piece for Storyworth.

Along with WADO, Ross spent many hours with the equipment above the Empire State Building when Heftel Broadcasting purchased 105.9 WNWK(FM). Univision’s radio footprint in New York would continue to grow with the addition of 92.7 WQBU(FM) in Garden City, followed by the trade of 105.9 with New York Public Radio for 96.3, then WQXR(FM), in 2009.

Early life

Ross was born to Helen and Edward Ross in May 1936 as an only child on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Erica recounted how he developed a knack for machines and tinkering early on. By age 10, Ross was already experimenting with his apartment building’s elevator controls — even figuring out how to send the doorman to the wrong floors.

For several years, he attended a boarding school in western North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains. The experience of navigating his way back to Manhattan via train sparked a lifelong fascination with locomotives.

He later attended Brooklyn Technical High School, where he joined the radio club and, according to Erica, officially “caught the bug.”

Ross studied at the University of Bridgeport, earning his associate’s degree in electrical engineering. He went on to serve three years in the communications division of the New York Air National Guard and completed basic training at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss.

In 1958, he got his break into the radio business, joining Municipal Broadcasting System’s WNYC(AM/FM) as a provisional engineer.

Ross aimed to become permanent pending a civil service exam. Passing the exam, however, didn’t guarantee a full-time position due to fierce competition from others. But WNYC’s chief engineer at the time, Hom Hong Wei, offered some reassuring advice, and Ross got the position.

He would credit Wei as being one of his most influential mentors. At WNYC, Ross found himself exploring hidden corners of the city.

“I got to go places that nobody else goes such as walking to the top of Washington Square Arch and yes, there is a locked stairway in the south leg of the arch,” Ross would recount.

Many decades at WADO

By the early 1970s, Ross transitioned to WADO as a summer relief engineer.

For a time, he found the energy to work at both WADO and WNYC, before becoming permanently entrenched at the Spanish-language AM station, where he’d work well into the 21st century.

He wondered how he had the stamina to manage it all.

He’d go solely full-time at WADO, but Ross’ role went beyond its day-to-day. During the ’70s, the AM station would broadcast Black gospel music on Sundays, and it had brokered agreements with several churches in the south Bronx and Harlem.

Ross was tasked with recording the services, lugging RCA reel-to-reel machines to the locations. Others were known to turn down those assignments for one reason or another, but Ross happily obliged.

Even after WADO stopped airing the programming, he became entrenched with the churches, who would ultimately approach Ross to do separate recordings of the services. He would handle multiple recordings in a single day during the 1980s, and continued doing so through at least 2005.

They affectionately referred to him as “Brother Ross, our Gospel engineer,” viewing him as a part of their community. The services would be taped and sent to radio stations across the U.S. that aired Black gospel.

His spirit was evident in other ways. Ross became a member of the IBEW Local 1212, the labor union for broadcast engineers, in 1963.

He rose in its ranks, becoming part of the union’s executive board. Ross would stay even after he became WADO’s chief engineer in 1985, following the passing of his good friend Phil Greenstone.

With what would have been considered a management position, it was unusual for someone like Ross to remain in the union, both Erica and Lebron said. Ross wrote that he felt it was an honor.

“He was more than a colleague; he was a brother in every sense of the word,” IBEW 1212 wrote while remembering Ross on its website.

“All of us in this profession share the same situation,” Ross wrote in his Storyworth of his IBEW role. “We all know each other in New York City and once each month we meet to eat, drink and be merry and discuss our war stories.”

Ross was also a loyal member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

Meadowlands move

As the broadcast landscape evolved, Lebron remembered Ross best for coordinating WADO’s transmitting power increase in the New Jersey Meadowlands at the end of 1999.

As recounted by Scott Fybush, WADO had used a Blaw-Knox diamond-shaped tower from its transmitter site on Paterson Plank Road in Carlstadt. It ran 5 kW day and night as part of a power restriction on regional channels like 1280.

But the FCC lifted that restriction in the early 1990s. WADO sought to upgrade to 50 kW by day and 7.2 kW at night, which required a new antenna system.

The venerable Blaw-Knox tower came down, and three new towers were needed, along with a complete renovation of the 1930s-era building that housed its transmitters.

Then-owner Hispanic Broadcasting had filed for a construction permit, but most of the actual work did not commence until just prior to its expiration, which acted as a hard deadline.

As Ross wrote in his Storyworth, from October 1999 and for the next four months, he visited the Meadowlands site daily to complete the project under great stress and pressure.

Construction took place on sensitive riparian land. It required a year of hearings costing over $1 million, involving the state of New Jersey, the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Laying down and completely removing temporary wooden plank roads alone cost $675,000, according to Ross. Union dock workers were hired to build a 1,000-foot boardwalk to the towers, and a crane had to be rented from the Tappan Zee Bridge.

With the main transmitter building modified and the heat shut off, crews worked late into the winter nights, running copper straps between the four towers with only a porta-potty out back.

He recounted the moment of truth:

“On February 1, I invited David Lykes, Hispanic Broadcasting’s chief operating officer, to come up from Dallas to push the activate button at 6  p.m.,” Ross wrote. “My heart was in my throat, but the damn system worked.”

The antenna system was designed by Ron Rackley of du Treil, Lundin & Rackley, who consulted on the project and praised Ross for its execution.

True to form

There were many other, less high-profile wins as well, often accompanied by 2 a.m. phone calls.

Ross was also well-known for his thorough tours of the Empire State Building’s broadcast facilities — Erica said multiple people have told her that those tours were highlights of their careers.

Also an amateur radio operator (K2RNR), Ross had many interests outside of radio, including locomotives and nature.

He loved the city, but ever since his boarding school days in western North Carolina, he became infatuated with the peace of a mountainside setting. Since the late 1960s, Ross owned a property in Kunkletown, Pa., in the southern portion of the Pocono Mountain region.

A lover of nature and an adamant conservationist, he viewed the country home as a sanctuary for wild animals. But he’d continue to call the Big Apple his main home and it was the only place he’d ever work.

In 2013, Univision honored his 50 years of broadcasting service by naming a studio after him.

True to his nature, he hated the attention and adamantly hoped people wouldn’t use the milestone to do the math on his age.

Ross passed away at home in his Hell’s Kitchen apartment — where he lived since 1964 — just shy of his 90th birthday.

Fittingly, the coroner described the lifelong engineer’s unforeseen cause of death as “an electrical short circuit of the heart.”

A memorial and celebration of life for Ross will be held Sunday, April 12, at the Masonic Lodge No. 72 in Secaucus, N.J.

The post How Richard Ross Kept the City That Never Sleeps On the Air appeared first on Radio World.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr chose a clear, blue-sky North Carolina spring day to travel to the top of a nearly 2,000-foot broadcast tower.

This was not the chair’s first rodeo — he also went to the top of the KELO(TV) tower in South Dakota last July and he has expressed his enjoyment of scaling such structures in the past. Carr used this latest opportunity, which included a live TV hit from the top of the eastern North Carolina broadcast site, to praise the efforts of America’s tower crews, including the one that aided him with his April ascent.

“It’s tower crews like this who maintain these structures; they are the reason why people receive these signals,” Carr told WCTI(TV). He said that there are roughly 20,000 tower climbers nationwide who support broadcast sites, along with towers for wireless communications and other services.

He shared a video on his X account:

Carr utilized a hydraulic hoist for the majority of the ascent before climbing the final 100 feet by hand, according to WCTI. The round trip took several hours.

The tower, located just west of New Bern, stands approximately 1,966 feet tall. In addition to serving WCTI, WYDO(TV) and WUNM(TV), it is home to 95.1 WRNS(FM), a Class C, 100,000-watt station licensed to Kinston.

According to Wikipedia, the structure ranks among the tallest towers in the United States.

The climb comes while crews are in the middle of a major maintenance project to replace the guy wires that stabilize the tower, according to WCTI. As a result of the work, WRNS said on its Facebook page that the station was off the air for several hours on April 6.

[Do you receive the Radio World SmartBrief newsletter each weekday morning? We invite you to sign up here.]

The post FCC’s Carr Lauds Workers by Scaling a 2,000-Foot Carolina Tower appeared first on Radio World.

Nautel will be expanding its NX series of AM transmitters into the low-power market, with two models that support both analog and digital broadcasting.

The additions are the 1 kW NX1 and the 2.5 kW NX2.5. Scheduled to ship in the fall, the transmitters will be exhibited at Nautel’s NAB Show booth.

“Low-power AM transmitters haven’t had these kinds of capabilities in the past,” said John Whyte, Nautel’s head of marketing and product strategy, in a release.

The transmitters are built on the company’s NX series architecture, which Nautel said accounts for approximately 40 MW of high-power AM deployments worldwide.

Both models contain a 250 W RF power module developed to bring the same performance in low-power configurations. The module includes ultra-linear modulation and digital precorrection.

The NX1 and NX2.5 support HD Radio, including MA3 all-digital operation, as well as current DRM modes. They also include Nautel’s digital modulation architecture for linearity and spectral cleanliness.

The models include front‑accessible, hot‑pluggable RF power modules that contribute the same to the final output. Nautel’s HTML‑based user interface provides local and remote monitoring, while built‑in RF instrumentation offers system visibility.

NAB Show Booth: C2546

[For more coverage of the convention see our NAB Show page.]

The post Nautel to Offer NX Series AM Transmitters at 1 kW and 2.5 kW appeared first on Radio World.

 

With the 2026 NAB Show approaching, we’re providing a series of previews with exhibitors about their plans and expectations.

Liu Bo is CEO of AI camera company OBSBOT, featured here because of the growing role of video in the radio media ecosystem.

Radio World: What is OBSBOT and what types of products does it offer? 

Liu: OBSBOT is focused on AI-powered imaging solutions for live production, video creation and increasingly integrated AV workflows. Our mission is to make professional-grade video production more efficient, accessible and creatively powerful.

We offer a broad portfolio that includes flagship PTZR live production cameras such as Tail 2, compact live streaming cameras like Tail Air, AI-powered webcams across the Tiny and Meet series, as well as control hubs such as Talent.

We also provide a growing ecosystem of accessories and software, including microphones, remotes, filters, tripods and mounting solutions, to support a more complete production workflow.

The reason we exist is simple. Broadcasters, podcasters, streamers, educators, worship teams, enterprises and independent creators are all being asked to produce more high-quality video with smaller teams and tighter deadlines. Traditional setups are often too complicated and labor-intensive.

By combining smart AI automation with true production-grade imaging tools, we help teams dramatically reduce repetitive work, simplify operations and gain the freedom to create more dynamic and engaging content across many different formats and industries.

RW: What will you highlight for NAB Show attendees?

Liu: We are centering our presence on the OBSBOT Tail 2 and the core theme of AI-powered live production that is both professionally robust and highly accessible.

Tail 2 is the product that best represents where OBSBOT is headed today: bringing together production-ready image quality, intelligent automation and workflow flexibility in a single camera platform. It supports up to 4K@60fps, features AI Tracking 2.0 and native vertical 4K rotation and offers broad protocols and connectivity options, including NDI, FreeD, SDI, HDMI and Ethernet.

This makes it a camera that works equally well in traditional broadcast environments and in fast-moving creator workflows.

We are also excited to give attendees the first public look at our upcoming launch: the OBSBOT Talent 2, our next-generation all-in-one portable live production system, built around the philosophy “Aggregate. Automate. Amplify.”

Talent 2 integrates video switching, 4K encoding, recording, monitoring and multicamera control into a single compact device. It significantly streamlines professional multi-camera workflows by removing the need for laptops and complex setups, while serving as a powerful control hub to all OBSBOT cameras and further strengthening our end-to-end AI-powered ecosystem.

The core message is that advanced live production no longer has to be complicated or resource-heavy.

That’s why we’ve built a complete, hands-on experience at our booth. We’ve created a fully functional Podcast Studio where visitors can see the Tail 2 working together with the Tiny 3, Talent, and our full ecosystem in real-world situations. We’ll run daily themed sessions showing how to easily build multi-cam NDI setups, run smooth one-person productions, create visually compelling podcasts and put together perfect end-to-end AV solutions.

We’ve also set up a dedicated green-screen zone to demonstrate the Tiny 3’s virtual avatar capabilities with virtual voice, and to showcase Tail 2’s compatibility with FreeD technology for real-time virtual production.

Next door, in collaboration with 4DV.ai, we’re showing 60 Tail 2 cameras integrated with cutting-edge 4D Gaussian Splatting technology. Attendees will even be able to experience the immersive, volumetric video through VR headsets, which must be quite impressive.

RW: What is the most notable technology trend or recent change in streaming video?

Liu: The most significant trend is AI evolving from simple tracking and framing tools into a true, context-aware copilot for live production and streaming. This new generation of AI actively reduces crew requirements, enhances reliability and enables far more dynamic content with much lower operational overhead.

At the same time, we’re witnessing explosive growth in video-first podcasting and vodcasting. Industry reports project that global podcast and vodcast advertising revenue will approach $5 billion in 2026, with nearly 20% growth. On the viewer side, YouTube data shows that time spent watching video podcasts on connected TVs has nearly doubled year-over-year.

These shifts make one thing clear: Audiences now expect high-quality, polished video to accompany excellent audio. At OBSBOT, we design our products to meet this exact need, delivering professional AV experiences while dramatically simplifying the production process.

RW: What other business or technology trends will you be watching for?

Liu: First, the continued convergence of creator workflows and traditional broadcast environments. More and more, small teams are achieving the same multi-camera, low-latency quality that used to require big production crews.

We’re also paying close attention to advances in hybrid and remote IP production, especially tighter integration between AI and cloud technologies that bring greater scalability and efficiency.

Another exciting area is the rise of volumetric and 4D capture technologies, which are opening up truly immersive and interactive content experiences. We’ll also be looking at how spatial and immersive audio can be perfectly synchronized with AI-driven video tracking and virtual production.

Finally, there’s a strong and growing emphasis on sustainability and operational simplicity, with solutions that help reduce crew size, physical infrastructure and overall complexity while still delivering reliable, broadcast-grade performance for live events, sports, worship and podcasting.

RW: What else should we know?

Liu: What we would most like people to know is that OBSBOT is not just showing individual products at NAB Show 2026. Instead, we are showing how an AI-powered production ecosystem can work in real-world workflows. … At the end of the day, we don’t just build cameras. We create intelligent, creative partners that help you work smarter, faster and with much more creative freedom.

OBSBOT will be in booth C5144 and also a joint booth with 4DV.ai in C5249

[For more coverage of the convention see our NAB Show page.]

The post Exhibitor Viewpoint: OBSBOT at NAB Show 2026 appeared first on Radio World.

A new appliance from Lawo is intended to be the solution to I/O format “convergence.”

The Edge One is a stagebox suitable for pro AV and broadcast applications, Lawo said. It is available in three separate packages: audio, video and AV.

Built on Lawo’s HOME platform, it is a ST 2110 unit that supports NMOS. The Edge One provides analog, MADI and USB audio; video connectivity on micro HD-BNC and HDMI; as well as a 32 x 16 audio mixer with audio DSP. It is Lawo’s first stagebox to provide HDMI ports.

Suggested uses, according to Lawo, include use in remote production setups, combining video and audio while taking up 1U of flightcase rackspace.

When equipped with the commentary interface module and the Lawo HOME Commentary app, the unit is also suitable for up to three commentators, providing each with their own microphone input and headphone output.

It offers eight analog audio connectors (XLR), eight SDI connectors and four HDMI ports.

The stagebox also includes two MADI ports with sample rate conversion as standard, a USB-C port supporting four input and output audio channels, synchronization and reference connectors and two Ethernet and two SFP connectors for IP networks, with a maximum streaming bandwidth of 25Gbps.

It also supports PoE++.

Lawo will demonstrate the Edge One at its NAB Show booth.

NAB Show Booth: C2108

[For more coverage of the convention see our NAB Show page.]

The post Lawo Releases Edge One Audio & Video Stagebox appeared first on Radio World.

Telecom circuits and links are critical for today’s broadcast and media facilities. They’ll be the focus of a talk during the “Emerging Technology” track of the SBE Ennes Workshop at the NAB Show.

Dan Merwin is founder of Broadcast Telecom and a longtime telecom veteran; he also works part-time as a contract broadcast field engineer. 

Radio World: What is the most important trend in telecom links that we should know about?

Dan Merwin: Starlink will continue to evolve in all aspects, including probably eliminating the need for Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT). Space-based 5G and Amazon’s Project Kuiper low-earth-orbit constellation will also change the game in terms of ubiquity and performance. 

[Related: “Inside the SBE Ennes at NAB Show Emerging Technology Track”]

Also, with the use of SD-WAN technology, which by now is quite mature, the need for expensive private links such as MPLS, Metro Ethernet, satellite delivery and even 950 MHz STLs has been greatly reduced for broadcast and media facilities. And just the fact of usually no longer needing to have multi-year contractual obligations to ISPs with huge termination fees is key.

RW: How have platforms like Starlink, 5G and 5.8 GHz links changed the game?

Merwin: Starlink and 5G are at the forefront of the evolution of internet access in general in that it is vastly more useful to enterprises than in the past for a variety of reasons. It is more ubiquitous, higher-performing, more diverse, and far less expensive than 10 or 20 years ago.

There are many factors to take into account, though, when making network changes. With Starlink, there is apparently an outage of 3:19 every night when the satellites and/or terminals are reset. 

Regarding 5.8 GHz PtPs, yes, there are more options for wirelessly connecting sites and for extending the last mile, but the 5.8 GHz space has become crowded so people are often looking at instead utilizing licensed spectrum such as 6 GHz and 11 GHz. 

RW: How do SD-WAN technologies play into this discussion?

Merwin: It was inevitable that we’d see an explosion in cutting-edge technology that takes advantage of the changes in internet access. SD-WAN also addresses the fact that WANs have evolved from a datacenter-based topology to one that is based on the realities and necessities of distributed security, as well as applications that reside in the cloud and/or at any remote location.  

Quality of Service has been supplanted by Quality of Experience, which is AI-driven. For broadcasters, SD-WAN overlayed on top of two or three connections of various types provides a more cost-effective, reliable and manageable way to handle all of their applications, including audio, video, metadata, telemetry, etc. 

RW: Can you offer a few best practice tips?

Merwin: Engage a trusted advisor. With an SD-WAN deployment, what generally takes up the most time of the customer and the vendor(s) are the design, planning and configuration stages. That, and the fact that it often involves moving from a WAN made up of MPLS and/or Ethernet Private Lines, mean that salespeople and overlays (e.g. sales engineers) have to invest a significant amount of time, usually far more than in the past, in the pre-sales process, and are compensated relatively little. 

Not only that, but in the case where they are paid based on a customer’s spend, they are cannibalizing their revenue and thus their commissions. All this to say that they are mostly not motivated to try to move customers in that direction, and thus it is usually advisable to work with a consultant/agent who probably has more to gain and less to lose in order to help find the best fit. 

Just a few examples of factors to consider:

• Some of the platforms redirect traffic on a per-packet basis, which facilitates seamless failover, whereas some just do it on a per-session basis, which will cause interruptions in case the primary link drops or bounces.
• Fortinet, for example, can go deeper into the LAN because they make switches and access points, but there are capabilities that some of the vendors have that they don’t.
• Is there a justifiable need to use a vendor that provides a “Middle Mile,” which enhances performance and security, such as Cato Networks?

Finally, when looking at moving to SD-WAN, it makes sense to do at least a cursory comparison of the benefits and potential drawbacks of self-deployed/managed, co-managed and fully managed SD-WAN, based on the IT resources available to the customer as well as the projected total cost of ownership, among other factors. 

Some providers will open tickets for you on any internet circuits (with a letter of authorization in place) as one example of the benefits of a managed service.

RW: What kinds of questions do you get from radio engineers?

Merwin: Naturally, they often want to know how well Starlink will work for their air chains and how reliable it is, although more and more engineers are becoming aware of its use in the industry. 

Cost is of course a common concern, so it’s nice to be able to talk to people about a technology change that will save them money in most cases. 

How troubleshooting is done with SD-WAN is another common concern. But most SD-WAN platforms make that a snap, with visibility and analytics even up to the application level.

RW: Are there misconceptions you would like to dispel? And what else should we know?

Merwin: It’s a little difficult for some people who have been involved with WANs for a long time to wrap their head around the idea that they might not need to have an expensive legacy private WAN anymore, and that low-cost, best-effort services such as cable internet can do the job perhaps even better when part of a redundant setup.

Meanwhile it’s estimated that there are still 7 to 8 million business POTS lines in the U.S. We have seen the prices go up for POTS as high as $1,500 per line! In addition, the copper infrastructure is no longer being maintained as it was in the past. 

POTS replacement has also become a mature and diverse offering, and it’s a managed service, so the days of a telco tech going out to install lines that are not installed where or how they need to be are pretty much gone.

The presentation “Telecom Circuits and Links for Broadcast and Media Facilities” is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday April 21 during the SBE Ennes Workshop.

[For more coverage of the convention see our NAB Show page.]

The post Connectivity in the SBE Ennes Spotlight appeared first on Radio World.

ENCO said its aiTrack workflow is now a fully cloud-native, automation-agnostic platform.

It will highlight this evolution at the NAB Show.

The system enables broadcasters to generate, customize and schedule AI-driven audio segments for live and automated programming. The company said cloud-native architecture now enables these benefits without the limitations of traditional infrastructure.

The tool is now accessible through any web browser. It allows on-air and production teams to create broadcast-ready content quickly using generative AI models and natural-sounding synthetic voices.

“From breaking news, entertainment, weather and sports updates to sponsored segments and localized content, the platform delivers seamless insertion into live broadcasts or scheduled playlists across terrestrial and streaming platforms.”

ENCO says its “foundation prompt” framework streamlines AI processes into intuitive templates. This lets users generate content by entering key variables such as location, format or sponsorship details.

aiTrack works with any broadcast automation system,  enabling delivery of its audio files into existing workflows from anywhere.

The company said the system now also offers more audio realism and flexibility, including multi-voice capabilities, language localization and voice cloning technology based on ENCO’s SPECai platform. “These enhancements bring AI-generated audio closer than ever to human performance,” it said.

NAB Show Booth: C2116

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The post ENCO Takes aiTrack Into the Cloud appeared first on Radio World.

Dielectric will feature its new RingMaster Series of high-efficiency FM antenna systems at the NAB Show.

It previewed these antennas last year and started shipping them last summer.

Dielectric will offer simulations and examples of installations in the United States and the Bahamas. Among them: Bonneville International is using a RingMaster antenna for a 13-station system at Farnsworth Peak, Utah. And Vertical Bridge installed a RingMaster auxiliary system at Cedar Hill, Texas, to transmit FM and HD Radio signals for 10 stations serving the Dallas-Fort Worth market.

The manufacturer says the new line combines the performance of its DCR Series with an architecture that provides an economical, efficient and adaptable solution for side-mounted FM systems. Dielectric says they use up to 1/3 fewer components.

“Integrating both full and half-wavelength spaced arrays, RingMaster allows broadcasters to achieve full FM bandwidth performance, something previously associated with half-wave spacing only,” it states.

It cites lightweight construction that helps with tower loading, structural concerns and installation complexities.

“The flexible design also introduces controlled elevation pattern shaping, providing customers flexibility and improved signal uniformity across the coverage area.”

NAB Show Booth: C1446

 

The post Dielectric Highlights RingMaster at NAB Show appeared first on Radio World.

Adventure 33 will use the NAB Show to promote a new offering called Prism Red.

It describes this as the first fully virtualized broadcast audio receiver.

“For the first time ever, broadcasters can receive live programming, closure triggers and network feeds entirely in software, thus eliminating the need for dedicated hardware while preserving the reliability and performance expected of broadcast infrastructure,” the Canada-based company said.

It said Aiir’s PlayoutONE is the first automation platform to achieve “Prism Red Certified” status, which it will highlight at the convention. It said this is the first integration of Prism Red with a cloud-based/virtual playout system.

“Prism has already established itself as a true replacement for satellite distribution, delivering highly reliable audio over IP using multi-path, multi-vendor infrastructure,” it said in the announcement.

“With the introduction of Prism Red, that same proven solution is now available natively inside VM and cloud environments. This marks a fundamental shift: Broadcast reception is no longer tied to physical devices.” It said this enables faster and more affordable deployment and scaling, and more ambitious workflows.

[Related: “Prism Quattro Is a New Distribution Option”]

The post Prism Red Is a Virtualized Broadcast Audio Receiver appeared first on Radio World.

A fire early Tuesday morning destroyed the transmission building for a 50,000-watt FM station and its colocated AM signal on the Delmarva peninsula.

103.3 WESR(FM), “The Shore,” is licensed to Onley-Onancock, Va., and serves Virginia’s Eastern Shore region.

It broadcasts from a tower site in Tasley that is also home to its sister AM station, the country-formatted 1330 WESR(AM), and its 105.7 FM translator. As of Wednesday, the three signals were off the air.

The Tasley Volunteer Fire Company arrived after receiving a call for a fire at the station’s tower site and reported the structure was fully involved, according to WBOC(TV).

According to station owner Charlie Russell, both the AM and FM can be heard again via their online streams, and Russell said that the station is working to secure a backup transmitter, with the hopes of returning to the air soon.

He expressed gratitude to the emergency services that arrived quickly on scene.

The AM signal goes back to 1958 from the Accomack County tower site, according to its FCC license record. The 103.3 FM signal signed on 10 years later.

[Do you receive the Radio World SmartBrief newsletter each weekday morning? We invite you to sign up here.]

The post Fire Destroys Virginia Radio Station Transmitter Building appeared first on Radio World.

One in a series of previews asking exhibitors about their NAB Show plans and expectations. 

Sean Bowman is associate VP, sales North America at Shure Inc.

Radio World: The growth in the “creator economy” is an important theme throughout this year’s NAB Show. How are Shure’s products used in that part of the media ecosystem?

Sean Bowman: When we look at the creator economy, we see it as a broad, diverse spectrum rather than a single category. It includes everyone from individual podcasters and YouTubers to professional broadcasters, sports producers and live event teams.

Our focus is on supporting creators regardless of scale across that entire journey, starting with tools that deliver great results easily and growing with creators as their workflows become more advanced and specialized.

At the entry point, many creators are working alone or in small teams and need professional audio without a lot of technical set up. Our USB microphones and compact digital interfaces are designed to remove barriers by handling gain, processing and reliability behind the scenes, automatically. That allows creators to focus on storytelling and content while still producing audio that meets professional expectations.

As creators scale up, their needs change. They might move into live production, mobile broadcast and more complex environments where reliability, flexibility and speed matter. 

That is where our digital wireless systems, software tools and other innovative technologies come into play, helping creators manage more demanding workflows without starting over. The goal is continuity. We want creators to be able to start with Shure, stay with Shure and rely on familiar tools as their ambitions and audiences grow.

RW: Have Shure products found notable application in the exploding field of sports media? 

Bowman: Sports media has been a major area of focus for Shure and it is one where our products have been used for decades across sideline reporting, field of play capture and broadcast production. 

What has changed recently is the pace and complexity of those workflows. Sports broadcasts are faster, more immersive and more demanding than ever, which has pushed us to rethink how audio is captured, managed and delivered in those environments.

A good example of that evolution is the DCA901 Digital Array Microphone. Traditional approaches to sports audio have often required extensive manual setup and constant adjustment, especially when trying to follow unpredictable action on the field. With DCA901, engineers can digitally steer and calibrate the array in real time, saving significant setup time while gaining much more flexibility. 

It allows producers and engineers to capture exactly the sounds they want, follow the action as it moves and respond instantly as the production changes, which is critical in live sports environments.

We are also seeing that once engineers adopt these workflows in sports, they begin to recognize their value beyond a single use case. The ability to react quickly, manage uncertainty and maintain creative control has applications across other forms of broadcast and live production. 

Sports media has become a proving ground for these technologies and it continues to influence how we think about audio capture across the broader media ecosystem.

RW: What new products will you highlight?

Bowman: At NAB, we will be highlighting a mix of new hardware and software that reflects how broadcast workflows are evolving. One major focus will be SLXD+ digital wireless, which is designed for broadcast professionals who need reliable performance in crowded RF environments, whether they are working in studios, mobile broadcast setups or out in the field. We will also be showcasing our broader Axient Digital portfolio, including our latest updates and expanded features, to demonstrate how engineers can manage increasingly complex productions with greater confidence and efficiency.

Another key area of focus will be the DCA901 Digital Capture Array, which we will show in a simulated sports environment for the first time. DCA901 represents a shift in how audio can be captured in fast-paced productions by replacing traditional manual setup with digitally steerable, software-controlled workflows. 

Alongside that, we will be highlighting Action Isolator, a free software tool that helps broadcasters focus on the sounds they want to capture while reducing unwanted audio, reinforcing our broader strategy around software driven audio solutions.

We will also highlight products that reflect the growing overlap between broadcast and creator workflows. That includes portable and compact solutions like MV88 USBC and MVX2U Gen 2, as well as collaboration-focused technologies such as IntelliMix Bar Pro, built on Microsoft’s device ecosystem platform (MDEP) for modern AI powered workplaces.

Taken together, what we are showing at NAB is a portfolio designed to give customers flexibility, speed and consistency, regardless of where or how they are creating content.

RW: Has AI technology changed Shure’s products, behind the scenes or in how the products are deployed?

Bowman: Yes, AI has absolutely influenced how we think about our products, both behind the scenes in how we develop them and in how customers use and deploy them. 

In many cases, that shows up as intelligent processing that helps improve audio quality automatically, especially in less-than-ideal environments. Whether it is noise reduction, de-reverberation or sound isolation, the goal is to make it easier for users to get clean, usable audio without having to manually correct issues after the fact.

We are also seeing AI play a growing role in customer workflows that sit on top of the audio we capture. As more tools rely on speech recognition, transcription and content analysis, the quality of the audio input becomes critical. If those systems cannot clearly distinguish voices or understand what is being said, the productivity gains fall apart. That reinforces our focus on delivering consistent, high-quality audio capture, so customers can take full advantage of AI-driven tools with confidence and spend less time fixing mistakes and more time creating.

RW: What other business trends will you be watching for?

Bowman: One major trend we are watching closely is how venues and stadiums are evolving. There is a growing focus on how the in-person experience that fans hear and feel in the venue competes with versus what an audience experiences on the broadcast. 

That is driving new approaches to audio capture and distribution on both sides, especially in large, complex spaces where traditional methods no longer deliver the same impact.

We are also seeing increased interest in how technology can help create more inclusive and flexible experiences within those environments. That includes ideas like delivering consistent audio to premium seating areas, suites and hospitality spaces, as well as emerging applications such as translation and enhanced accessibility. 

As these experiences become more immersive and personalized, audio plays a critical role and we are excited to work with partners who are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in modern venues.

We’ll be discussing these topics in more detail at NAB’s Sports Summit series throughout the show.

NAB Show Booth: C4916

[For more coverage of the convention see our NAB Show page.]

The post Exhibitor Viewpoint: Shure at the NAB Show appeared first on Radio World.

To help local public radio stations build revenue from digital underwriting, StreamGuys and American Public Media have launched a partnership called the Inform Media Network.

The organizations call IMN “a private underwriting and sponsorship marketplace purpose-built for public media” that provides local stations with a national sales team and network at no cost.

Approximately 30 organizations are participating. Among organizations taking part so far are familiar brands like KQED, WETA, Baltimore Public Media, WHYY, WBUR, Houston Public, WGBH, KEXP and others.

The companies said this network offers 55 million monthly impressions reaching over 6 million unique listeners through their podcasting and live streams.

The Inform Media Network is intended to help stations fill unsold digital inventory with “compliant, public radio-quality underwriting through APM’s centralized national sales reach.”

It said stations benefit from audience insights that support the local sales process and that it gives them a mechanism to sell local underwriting to local listeners of APM’s national podcasts, including podcasts from “Marketplace,” “This Old House Radio Hour” and “The Slowdown.”

StreamGuys will manage the technical infrastructure and deliver onboarding services and payment processing for publishers. Magellan AI is used for measurement “from listening to conversion.”

In the announcement, APM acknowledged the challenges of maximizing underwriting revenue for local and national organizations.

“Inform Media Network offers a solution to these challenges — to the benefit of the larger public radio ecosystem. The network is designed to simplify participation for stations while presenting advertisers with a single trusted point of entry into public media digital audio,” it said.

It quoted Justin Hach, director digital sales operations and products at APM and Minnesota public Radio, saying that impressions from listeners outside of a broadcast market may not be important to local sponsors but are a “fantastic” potential audience for national advertisers when connected across the public radio system.

StreamGuys said the network is “not an automated, algorithm-driven programmatic ad network” and that its underwriting will be FCC-compliant “and sound just like local underwriting sold by public radio stations.”

Local stations also will have the opportunity to sell APM’s national podcasts in their local region. Among organizations taking part so far are familiar brands like KQED, WETA, Baltimore Public Media, WHYY, WBUR, Houston Public, WGBH, KEXP and others.

The post APM and StreamGuys Launch “Inform Media Network” appeared first on Radio World.

A local radio group based in Grand Island, Neb., has closed on its purchase of five NRG Media central Nebraska radio stations and one FM translator.

The buyer, Usher Media Group, originally announced the deal in November, and it includes signals in Kearney, Hastings and Grand Island.

Usher Media also acquired the operations of the website news portal centralnebraskatoday.com.

According to the companies’ filing with the FCC, the purchase of the five stations and one associated FM translator was $3.75 million.

Usher Media is headed by the Grand Island-based Alan Usher. As a result of the deal, Usher and his wife, Joanna, divested their shares in Legacy Communications, an eight-station cluster also based in Grand Island.

In February, Usher announced it had also acquired NRG Media’s five Omaha stations.

NRG Media is an Iowa-based company headed by Mary Quass. NRG owns approximately 30 other radio stations across Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin, but it has been divesting its radio properties, as Radio World has reported.

Kalil & Co., Inc. was the broker for this transaction.

The stations involved in the deal are listed below:

Frequency	Call Sign	City	Details / Power / HAAT
1340 kHz	KGFW(AM)	Kearney	1 kW day / 1 kW night
105.9 MHz	KQKY(FM)	Kearney	100 kW @ 1,204’ HAAT
102.3 MHz	KRNY(FM)	Kearney	79 kW @ 1,086’ HAAT
96.1 MHz	K241CN(FX)	Kearney	0.25 kW @ 167’ HAAT
101.5 MHz	KROR(FM)	Hastings	100 kW @ 1,004’ HAAT
107.7 MHz	KSYZ(FM)	Grand Island	100 kW @ 919’ HAAT

[Do you receive the Radio World SmartBrief newsletter each weekday morning? We invite you to sign up here.]

The post Usher Media Closes on Purchase of NRG’s Central Nebraska Stations appeared first on Radio World.

The new issue features audio processing products from Angry, Aqua, DHD, Lawo, Omnia, Orban, Thimeo, Wheatstone and WorldCast.

Also: The growth in the number of NCE stations in the United States coincides with a volatile time for public media.

Paul Kaminski describes the radio experience in the 2026 Genesis G90.

Steve Cannon offers tips for engineering teams that lack big budgets.

And Bill Trau troubleshoots a piece of legacy gear in Workbench.

Read it here.

The post Read the April 8, 2026 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.