It’s a combination of relevant trends and real-world advice that you won’t find in a classroom.

Media professionals should take a close look at the offerings lined up for the Society of Broadcast Engineers’ Ennes Workshop at the NAB Show in Las Vegas.

The event will once again feature two tracks: From Signals to Success: RF101 Gets You There and Emerging Technology.

Important from a planning perspective: The Ennes Workshops at NAB will be held on Tuesday, April 21, and Wednesday, April 22 — a shift from previous years. The tracks will take place in the Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall conference rooms, N250 for Emerging Technology and N254 for RF101.

You do not need to buy a full NAB conference pass to attend the workshop, and the Ennes Workshop fee also includes a pass to the NAB show floor. SBE has made promo code available through Feb. 28 to get a discount on registration.

Today, we’ll cover the Emerging Technology track. It’s packed with upwards of eight hours of sessions both days, and the organization and scheduling began months ago, organizers David Bialik and Fred Willard told Radio World.

Willard, an SBE member since 1985 and a manager of its Washington, D.C., chapter, is the senior RF engineer at TelevisaUnivision.

Bialik was the recipient of the 2025 James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year award and he is the director of engineering at MediaCo New York.

Friends since their time as American University students, Bialik and Willard have organized the broadcast sessions together for more than 15 years, though Bialik’s experience organizing tracks stretches closer to 40 years when counting his time with the AES Show broadcast sessions.

Audio and video offerings

Running all day Tuesday and Wednesday, the Emerging Technology track places a focus on both technology and technique. According to Willard, approximately 90% of the track features new material compared to previous iterations.

The sessions will cover video as much as radio, emphasizing that modern engineers are now expected to handle both.

“There’s no such thing as audio-only radio anymore, and there’s no such thing as only television,” Bialik explained. “Any radio engineer nowadays has to know video because it’s a prerequisite now.”

A highly successful formatting choice from last year will return: grouping two to three sessions back-to-back without a gap, followed by a break, and concluding with a combined Q&A panel. The pair found the structure allows the material to sink in, encourages hallway conversations and gives attendees time to formulate their questions.

Willard and Bialik observed that there was enough “outside of the RF path” content to fill five days of sessions, but they ultimately narrowed it down to a few key themes.

Technology trends

A core focus is audio intelligibility.

“There’s nothing you can do that will affect more listenership or viewership than having intelligible, clear audio, especially when everybody’s going through a small device,” Willard said. “It’s probably the most important technical aspect of any stream or broadcast, yet it’s rarely covered.”

[Related: “Loudness Control Is Your Ally in Preventing Tune-Out”]

Bialik emphasized the parallel need for loudness control. Consistent levels across programming and ads are crucial, particularly on radio’s streaming platforms.

“If streams have not locked in and set their loudness level on their content as well as on their ads, people are going to jump off,” he warned.

Rather than treating AI as a novelty, the organizers view it as an integrated tool across the board.

“AI is used in so many different ways, and while we have a session talking about where AI comes into play, it’s not a standalone topic anymore,” Willard said.

The track also covers the rise of the NDI protocol, a video-over-IP standard that Willard said radio has adopted more rapidly than other mediums.

“It’s not considered a professional format, but it’s where the industry is going, and we have to find ways to mix with professional formats,” he said.

Attendees can also expect presentations on other major video standards that radio and media engineers must now navigate, including SMPTE ST 2110 and HDR.

The less glamorous but critical “other duties as assigned” facing modern technology managers, ranging from physical plant security to HVAC issues, will also receive ample coverage. 

Sessions to watch

To address the expanding responsibilities of today’s engineer, the Emerging Technology track includes several targeted sessions:

• Loudness and Dialog Intelligibility: Robert Bleidt of Streamcrest Associates, Scott Norcross of Dolby Labs and Scott Kramer of Netflix will analyze audience retention science and consistency between disparate audio sources.
• HVAC for Your Media Facility: Media consultant Andy Butler explores important physical plant knowledge required to maintain stable environmental conditions in modern, data center-like facilities.
• Protect the Most Important Asset: Your People!: Steve Shultis of New York Public Radio and Claudia Haase of Securepoint dive into physical security risks and safety protocols for technical teams operating in today’s political climate.
• Media IP Troubleshooting: Hardware and Software: John Davis of Wheatstone and consultant Steve Holmes provide a guide to fault-finding — covering packet jitter, latency and PTP sync — in the transition to IP workflows.
• Myriad Uses of AI in Media: Kyle Suess of Amira Labs details how broadcasters are utilizing AI for tasks ranging from metadata tagging and transcription to targeted advertising and smart upscaling.
• From Engineer to Owner: Building a Station—and a Business: Kirk Harnack and Bud Williamson share insights on making the leap from engineering excellence to business leadership.

(View the Day 1 schedule) (View the Day 2 schedule)

Ennes registrants are provided lunch, and both organizers highlighted the networking value of the in-person event.

“Engineers need soft skills and they need the development of it,” Willard said. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know and knowing where to find the information.”

Bialik said that a robust professional network — or a personal Rolodex — is “the most important tool you can have as an engineer.”

Fly home Thursday

Early registration for the Ennes Workshops is encouraged, though Willard said that attendees can register on site during the show itself.

While the sessions run concurrently with the open show floor, the workshop is conveniently located just upstairs in the renovated North Hall. For those finalizing their NAB Show travel plans, Willard offered simple advice:

“Plan to leave Thursday instead of Wednesday.”

[For More News on the NAB Show See Our NAB Show News Page]

The post Inside the SBE Ennes at NAB Show Emerging Technology Track appeared first on Radio World.

Now more than ever, every dollar counts.

For a college media program, a successful fundraiser is a way to prove your worth to campus administrators. For a regional public radio outlet, it might simply be a matter of survival.

So when a college station pulls off a financially record-breaking campaign in its history, it’s worth taking note.

John Carroll University’s 88.7 WJCU(FM) recently raised approximately $108,000 over a 10-day radiothon. The radio station licensed to the private university located in University Heights, Ohio, the Cleveland suburb, broke the school’s record of about $83,000, which itself was a marked jump from approximately $69,000 in 2024.

To understand how WJCU pulled this off, it is worth revisiting the backdrop of a significant event in northeast Ohio’s collegiate radio scene this past fall.

The WCSB effect

On Oct. 3, World College Radio Day, Cleveland State University handed over control of its student-run radio station, 89.3 WCSB(FM), to Ideastream Public Media. 

Though the operation is still licensed to CSU, Ideastream took over its programming, flipping it to a straight-ahead jazz format. 

Jasen Sokol, who has been director of WJCU since 2020, felt the shockwaves immediately.

By night, Sokol operates as a public address announcer for the Cleveland Monsters AHL hockey team. While at the arena, unprompted, people came up to him through the penalty box glass asking what was going on at Cleveland State.

“I think it really hurt a lot of people, not just the students and the community volunteers there, but all the people that listen to those programs,” Sokol said. 

“And all of us in the college radio community in northeast Ohio too, because it could have been us.”

As a result, Sokol does not take listener or administrative support for granted.

Proving your worth

While WJCU’s radiothon spans exactly 10 days, Sokol insists the effort is a year-round, around-the-clock campaign to prove the station’s value.

“Whether it’s live broadcasts from campus events or involvement fairs, we have to prove our worth constantly,” he said. That visibility has even earned WJCU’s studios a dedicated stop on the university’s prospective student campus tour.

When something good happens — such as the two awards WJCU earned at the 2026 IBS Convention in New York City — Sokol doesn’t waste any time sending out an email blast to campus departments. “Sometimes, you’ve got to be guilty of tooting your own horn,” he joked.

Sokol believes in the strategy. WJCU enjoys a well-placed standing with John Carroll’s administration. “Even members of our senior leadership team were donating,” Sokol said. 

Believe-land

Today, about 40 students volunteer with the outlet, spearheaded by an eight-member student executive board. But crucially, the station also taps into the broader Cleveland community.

Approximately 40 community members host shows on WJCU. Many are alumni, including one founding member. 

Another host will celebrate his 45th anniversary on the air next year. It’s a hybrid model that might not work everywhere, but Cleveland supports it, Sokol said.

“The cultural diversity in this town is something that is not only very broad, but it’s celebrated,” Sokol noted. 

Beyond its deep rock-and-roll history, Cleveland’s cultural roots — from Little Italy to Slavic Village to its Paczki Day celebrations — provide a ground for local, niche radio.

But it’s evident in the number of college and community radio stations that are operating across the region. In addition to WJCU, there’s WRUW(FM) at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve and Baldwin Wallace College’s WBWC(FM) in Berea. To the south, the Class B FM signal of WZIP(FM) is operated by University of Akron.

“I think this is the best location in the nation for college radio,” Sokol said.

There’s also successful high school-operated stations in Streetsboro High School’s WSTB(FM) and the Kenston High School district’s WKHR(FM) in Bainbridge, Geauga County.

Where to start?

For a public radio outlet looking to venture into fundraising for the first time, a $100,000 goal might seem daunting. Next year will be WJCU’s 25th radiothon, and Sokol cautions that building this kind of momentum takes time.

“Maybe you receive 75 pledges that are all around 20 or 30 bucks — that’s valuable!” he said.

Planning for WJCU’s spring radiothon begins in mid-September. Sokol said the team locks down themes and tests thank-you gifts before winter break to ensure donors receive high-quality items — like a WJCU Bluetooth speaker with a built-in FM radio for the $250 level, or an invitation to the annual Gold Member Dinner for the $500 level.

The radiothon is strategically scheduled to cover two weekends. The timing, Sokol said, ensures that community volunteers, who largely broadcast on weekends, get two opportunities to ask their dedicated audiences for support.

It pays off: “Jump in Joe’s Basement Show,” an oldies program, raised $25,000 between his two Saturday slots alone, driven by donors actively trying to one-up each other’s pledges on the air.

Meanwhile, a student show received a $10,000 single pledge called in by a former board member.

Finding the value statement

The first step for any successful drive, Sokol said, is training students on how to demonstrate to listeners that their hard-earned dollars are worth spending.

In late January, he works with WJCU’s students to refine their on-air pitches.

“The biggest thing is, we have to have a value statement,” he said. “This is a hard-working, blue-collar town. Why should someone who is living paycheck to paycheck contribute to us instead of the myriad of other causes out there?”

One WJCU student host, Lauren Koppelmann, pitched the station as the singular way she stays connected to her family back home in New Jersey, playing requests so they can share music via the online stream.

“We can still feel like we’re together because of what we’re doing on the radio,” she told her listeners.

Key students driving the station’s success include sports directors Nikolena Samac and Owen Close, and students Zachary Sinutko, Caitlyn Minney and Nick Colbert.

Koppelmann, WJCU’s co-music director and a varsity swimmer, even conceptualized an “inner circle” donor wall for those who contributed over $250.

“It’s something that’s going to last long after she graduates,” Sokol said.

During this year’s drive, which overlapped with Valentine’s Day, alumni host Zachary “DJ Z13” Sinutko was out of town for work, so he arranged for “Mustard” — the Cleveland Guardians’ hot dog mascot — to surprise his girlfriend, Emily Davala, with a gift while she was answering phones at the station.

Ultimately, Sokol’s advice to stations hesitant to ask their listeners for money is simple: “Jump in and try it. Even if you raise a few thousand dollars, it’s more than you had.”

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

The post What’s the Secret to a Successful Fundraiser? appeared first on Radio World.

The Association of Public Radio Engineers is preparing for the 26th Public Radio Engineering Conference, returning to Las Vegas in April with a focus on navigating the uncertain future of the broadcast industry.

The event will take place Thursday, April 16, and Friday, April 17, at the Tuscany Suites and Casino, preceding the 2026 NAB Show.

This year’s speakers include engineers, representatives from product manufacturers and other recognizable industry names. PREC is public radio’s yearly gathering for broadcast engineers of all experience levels, featuring an emphasis on topics related to public broadcasting.

This year’s guiding theme is “what’s next” — which the organization said represents looking at where public radio and public media are heading from both a technical and public service standpoint.

According to APRE President Scott Hanley, the association’s board designed the 2026 event with the shifting public media landscape in mind. He believes it is the one time of year such a large and diverse group of technology experts can gather.

“We decided that our conference had become even more important than years past, as we face a future where effective, sustainable operation is at risk and important to our communities,” Hanley said.

The two-day schedule includes several industry-focused sessions. On Thursday, the conference begins with “Audio Processing – How To Tune It and Why It Matters,” hosted by Leif Claesson of Claesson Edwards.

Other Thursday sessions include:

• David Layer of NAB presenting “AM Radio in the 21st Century”.
• “Transmission System Troubleshooting Techniques” by Steve Wilde of American Amplifier.
• “The Magic of LTSC and Other Ways to Make Legacy Tech Work” presented by Scott Hanley, Darrell McCalla and William Harrison.
• “The Data-Driven Dashboard: Leveraging AutoStage Analytics for Public Media” by Juan Galdamez of Xperi.

Friday’s schedule includes:

• “Advances in FM Antenna Technology” by Cory Edwards of Dielectric.
• “NCE Translator Window and Other Legal Updates” by Derek Teslik of Gray Miller Persh.
• An update on NPR Distribution by NPR’s Badri Munipalla, Jon Cyphers and Mike Pilone.
• “Studios (Or No Studios At All) – Some New Ways of Thinking” by Scott Fybush of Myriad broadcast software.

On Friday afternoon, the newly formed Public Media Infrastructure will also be presenting, with speakers to be announced.

Attendees can take advantage of early-bird pricing until March 1. Hanley said that APRE’s board extended this deadline because “December 31 was too soon for anyone to know what to expect and make a decision for spring.”

Organizers have held in-person conference prices flat since 2024. APRE has also kept a virtual attendance option for engineers unable to travel. Hanley said that early registrations are tracking similarly to past years.

He also said APRE is expanding its financial aid footprint.

The funds are designated both to assist attendees with financial needs and “to encourage the next generation of technical talent to get firmly engaged in the public media engineering community sooner rather than later,” according to Hanley.

The conference concludes on Friday evening with the annual APRE Awards Dinner at Lawry’s The Prime Rib.

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

The post Public Radio Engineering Conference Schedule Announced appeared first on Radio World.

Nick’s Signal Spot is a new feature in which Nick Langan explores RF signals, propagation, new equipment and related endeavors. 

On Monday, we were without power for approximately 12 hours at my house in southern New Jersey, following the nor’easter that dumped approximately 15″ of snow where we live. My brother, Bobby, had gone outside to start the digging-out process.

Then he came back in and uttered: “Your antenna is hanging downward.”

My response, as any deep radio enthusiast can relate to, was: “Which one?”

But then he said it was the antenna on our roof, and I knew it was the APS-13 FM Yagi. My heart immediately leapt into my throat.

The Antenna Performance Specialties APS-13, with the number 13 referring to its number of antenna elements, is a specimen. At approximately 200 inches in boom length, it takes a large area to mount. It was developed by Ed Hanlon sometime around the turn of the century.

Hanlon stopped building them around 2008. Its sister model, the smaller, nine-element APS-9B, is also still reliably used by several hobbyists, and there was an even larger, 14-element APS-14.

But the APS-13 achieved legendary status, particularly around the time it was invented. Brian Beezley (K6STI)’s modeling of the antenna demonstrates its quality.

Prior to the APS-13, for a consumer-grade product, the best receiving antenna around that time was the Channel Master Probe-9.

My longtime good friend and fellow long-distance FM radio DXer, Michael Temme-Soifer, purchased an APS-13 and told me of the feats he could accomplish from Atlantic County, N.J., with the Yagi, some 20 years ago now.

With no tropospheric enhancement, he could hear as far as WIKS(FM) in New Bern, N.C., and WOMP(FM) in Bellaire, Ohio — both well over 300 miles away — on a daily basis.

I’m an easy sell, and that was enough for me. In April 2005, I ordered mine and I had it installed.

For DXers in pursuit of a sharp antenna that could find nulls in local signals, the directionality of the APS-13 was unprecedented, and in my usage, it still is.

It’s harder today, what with so many signals on the air. But even so, particularly during summertime tropospheric enhancement, the APS-13 remains a champion.

One example is a null I always have on 100.1 WJRZ(FM) from Manahawkin, about 25 miles away. Whenever there is enhancement to the north, I can reliably hear 100.1 WDST(FM), from Woodstock, N.Y., 150 miles to the north.

The Yagi has survived a move to my current location in Tabernacle, Burlington County, and numerous nor’easters and wind events in between.

So, what’s its current status? It’s perilous. But somehow, despite the heavy, wet snow compromising the mast held by my chimney mount, the antenna itself looks intact.

The countdown is on for me to find someone, anyone, willing to scale my roof in the next few days.

I’ll keep you posted on how it unfolds!

[Read the Signal Spot from Nick Langan for More DX-Related Stories]

The post An Ode to an Antenna Behemoth appeared first on Radio World.

A fixed-base operator at the Billings, Mont., airport has received a notice of unlicensed operation from the Federal Communications Commission.

At the Billings-Logan International Airport, Beacon Air Group provides services such as aviation fuel, aircraft ground handling and aircraft parking as part of its Fixed-Base Operator support.

FBOs commonly operate aeronautical radios to coordinate ground services with arriving and departing aircraft.

But the Denver office of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau received a complaint of an unlicensed station operating in the VHF aircraft band on 128.825 MHz at the airport.

(Read the FCC’s notice of unlicensed operation.)

The station was causing interference with an entity licensed at the same location, according to the Enforcement Bureau.

On Aug. 7, an agent from the Denver office spoke with a representative of Beacon and the bureau confirmed that Beacon operated radios on 128.825 MHz as part of its fixed-base operator support at the airport.

But the commission’s records showed no license issued to Beacon for operating on the frequency there.

Beacon’s website lists its ARINC frequency at Billings as 128.82 MHz. A search of the FCC’s ULS database shows no records in Montana on either frequency.

The Enforcement Bureau warned that operating radio transmitting equipment without authorization is a violation of federal law and could subject Beacon to monetary fines and seizure of the equipment.

The transmissions must cease immediately, and Beacon has 10 days to respond to the commission with any evidence that it had the authority to operate.

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

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It was a time for radio engineering to shine at this year’s Intercollegiate Broadcasting Systems conference.

On Friday afternoon, SBE Chapter 15’s Bud Williamson and Andy Gladding hosted multiple sessions, including an introduction to engineering, a technical Q&A and a discussion on the value of membership in the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

The sessions also included Mindy Hoffman, engineer for Audacy, and Scott Fybush, engineering consultant and U.S. sales representative for software automation provider Broadcast Radio.

These were part of a two-day conference where approximately 850 college and high school students gathered in New York City.

The festivities culminated in a boisterous atmosphere inside the Metropolitan Ballroom, where the 2026 IBS Media Awards were presented.

Receiving this year’s best overall college station award was 91.7 WSUM(FM) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It also secured the win for best college/university station for a student body greater than 10,000. 

UW student members Vincent Hesprich, sports director, and Johnny Raider, production director, were on-hand to show off the new hardware. In all, the station brings four trophies back to the Badger State. 

Other top honors included:

• Best college/university station (less than 10,000 students): 91.1 WGCS(FM) Goshen (Ind.) College
• Best community station: 90.3 WHPC(FM), Nassau County (N.Y.) Community College
• Best high school station: 88.1 WLTL(FM), Lyons Township (Ill.) High School
• Tom Gibson Award for outstanding radio engineering: Cornelius Gould and Eric Simna, 88.7 WJCU(FM), John Carroll University

Engineering extra

Hoffman is also an advisor for Rutgers University’s 90.3 WVPH(FM) in Piscataway, N.J., and she offered a tutorial to the youthful audience. 

She pointed out the visual differences between AM, FM and TV antennas and quizzed her subjects on their functions.

Her presentation also highlighted notable broadcast “tower farms” across North America, ranging from Mount Wilson in Los Angeles to Cedar Hill in Dallas–Ft. Worth and the Mount Royal farm in Montreal. 

She recounted a story of scaling the steps at Mount Royal and looking out at its antennas, which drew oohs and aahs from the crowd.

Hoffman offered two key pieces of advice for student technical directors:

• If a piece of equipment is malfunctioning, first check the power source.
• It’s tried and true advice, but if a problem involves a station computer: Unless it is running a specifically scheduled event, turn it off and turn it back on.

As students move into more demanding tech roles, Williamson provided an explainer on the different methods of delivering AoIP commonly used by stations today. 

Williamson and Gladding also encouraged students to capitalize on their physical presence on campus.

“It has to be visible,” Williamson said. “Maybe it’s in front of a mailroom — somewhere with a lot of foot traffic.”

What motivates you

Keynote speaker Helen Little shared her inspirational career path, which saw her climb the ladder from UNC-Chapel Hill to WPEG(FM) in Charlotte, with subsequent stops in Houston, Dallas and Philadelphia.

At Radio One in Philadelphia, Little became the first African-American female operations manager of a radio station cluster in the country.

While she originally envisioned a career in a warm-weather market like Miami — a sharp contrast to the Blizzard Warnings being hoisted across the tri-state during her speech — a challenge from an ex-boyfriend changed her trajectory. He teased that she could never get a job in New York.

“That was a matter of someone telling me something I couldn’t do, which is one way to motivate me,” Little said. “Listen to your inner voice. Pay attention to your inner compass and let that guide you.”

She moved to New York as the program director of iHeartMedia’s 105.1 WWPR(FM), but eventually realized she missed being on the air. In 2008, she took a chance to become the midday host of the top-rated 106.7 WLTW(FM), a post she has held ever since.

It could have been viewed as a backwards move by some.

But addressing the students, Little emphasized finding personal motivation. “It’s not always going to be money. For me, it’s the fun of it all,” Little said. 

She also touched on modern tools, noting she’ll use ChatGPT for show prep while adhering to iHeart’s “Guaranteed Human” policy.

“AI definitely has a great purpose, but not to make up a story for me to tell,” she said.

The future runway

Little was asked by a student how they could make it to the New York radio market. She admitted that many of her on-air coworkers at iHeart New York have been there for a while.

“In New York, when people get these jobs, they don’t leave,” Little explained. “It creates a bottleneck of opportunity,” she said. “But if you really want to do this, you’ll go where the work is.”

On that note, Saturday morning, a panel featuring Lance Venta of RadioInsight, Sean Ross of Ross on Radio and Pat “DJ Grooves” Cerullo from Loud Radio Pennsylvania discussed the current state of the industry, including for career opportunities.

Venta, who has chronicled radio since he launched the Mid-Atlantic Radio Message Board in 1997, observed a dearth of Gen-Xers at the management level, leaving a gap between aging leadership over 60 and the newest faces in the building. 

The few entry-level positions that are available do often involve relocation, and that’s just not appealing to the current generation, the panelists agreed.

“Overall, there is a future-vision problem,” Venta remarked.

But the panel also celebrated the fact that technology now allows many shows to be produced remotely — a major draw for young talent. 

Cerullo, who operates his Loud Radio network from home, recently hired a 22-year-old Jabez “Bez Musiq” Carrasquilla for afternoon drive. “He’s active on social media and he has a great following, but the linear aspect of radio appealed to him,” Cerullo said.

Ross added that while “great radio” is harder to find, it still exists. He cited the K-Love network as an example: “They have seven great on-air shows and they present themselves with a swagger.”

Fybush, who recalled his first IBS in 1991, chimed in from the audience. He noted that versatility is now mandatory: “Most successful broadcasters are their own ad agencies these days.”

Ultimately, the conference highlighted that while radio faces the same hurdles it has for decades, the next generation is there, waiting, if the industry at large is willing to offer those opportunities.

As Little concluded in her keynote: “Give them a reason to listen, give them a reason to show up and they’ll do it. When you don’t take care of your audience, they start looking elsewhere.”

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

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A new public service announcement campaign from the National Association of Broadcasters voices appreciation for members of Congress who have publicly pledged support for an AM Radio vehicle mandate.

The “thank you” spots are available right now for radio stations in the U.S. to air in :30 second format. Stations can download in MP3 spots specific to the congressional districts within their state. NAB also offers scripts as PDFs for on-air talent to read at their own stations.

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (H.R. 979) would require the secretary of transportation to mandate that AM radio be made free and easily accessible to consumers in all new vehicles, including electric models.

According to NAB, the spots highlight grassroots and bipartisan support for the legislation. But they also urge congressional leadership to finally get the bill to a floor vote and bring it to the president’s desk.

“Listeners across the country are speaking up because they depend on AM radio for trusted news and lifesaving emergency information, and members of Congress are responding,” Grace Whaley, NAB’s director of communications and social media, told us.

Whaley said that the momentum is reflected in strong bipartisan support in both chambers, as well as from President Trump, who spoke about the issue on Hugh Hewitt’s Salem Radio Network show in January.

“A lot of people don’t know about that, but it’s actually a very big subject,” Trump told Hewitt. “We’re going to be doing something on that.”

According to Radio Ink, the bill carries more than 375 co-sponsors across the Senate and House of Representatives. It still awaits a floor vote from House and Senate leadership, in the second year of the current congressional cycle.

Radio Ink also noted the strategic timing of the release of the thank you spots just prior to the NAB State Leadership Conference, which is to convene in Washington on March 3.

[Read more stories about the future of AM radio in cars]

The post NAB Offers PSAs to Thank Members of Congress for AM Radio Support appeared first on Radio World.

An LPFM operator in southern Connecticut has entered into a consent decree with the FCC after it was found to be operating above its licensed transmitting power and falsely certifying that it was in compliance.

107.5 WNHA(LP) is licensed to New Haven and operated by Alma Radio, running Spanish-language Christian programming. It has been silent under a special temporary authority since June.

The Media Bureau had launched an investigation into WNHA’s technical facilities following a petition filed by an entity called the WBLS Listeners’ Coalition.

The consent decree resulted in the commission terminating its investigation. But it admonished WNHA for falsely certifying that it was, in fact, operating with its proper transmitting power output. As a result, WNHA must revert to its previously licensed parameters and submit a full compliance report.

There is no financial forfeiture as part of the agreement.

WBLS listener coalition

The issue traces back to February 2022, when WNHA filed an application for a construction permit to relocate its antenna to a higher space on its tower, which lowered its authorized effective radiated power to 18 watts. The commission granted the application that February.

According to the Media Bureau, a few weeks later, the “WBLS Listeners’ Coalition” filed a petition for reconsideration of the grant. 107.5 WBLS(FM), the same-channel New York City R&B station, is approximately 65 miles southwest of New Haven, but it places 54 dBu coverage into much of neighboring Fairfield County.

The coalition claimed WNHA was operating at a power higher than authorized, causing interference to WBLS throughout towns such as Fairfield, Easton, Trumbull, Monroe and Milford. Its study concluded that the station was operating with approximately 975 watts of power.

(Read the details of the FCC’s consent decree with Alma Radio.)

Three years later in February 2025, WNHA responded, stating it was operating at its authorized ERP. However, according to the commission, one of its supporting documents showed the station was actually running with 50 watts of transmitter power output. Based on its documented antenna, this would have resulted in an ERP above 18 watts, according to the commission. 

That discrepancy led the Media Bureau to issue WNHA a letter of inquiry, requiring complete technical information on its transmitter and antenna.

The WBLS Listeners’ Coalition then submitted a supplement that included photos of WNHA’s transmitter and a statement from an engineer, Dave Anderson. 

The coalition provided a photo that it said showed the station was using a two-bay antenna rather than the single-bay system authorized in its 2022 license. Thus, the coalition asserted, WNHA violated both the antenna type and maximum ERP set out in its authorization. The coalition estimated that a two-bay installation with the deployed coaxial cable would result in an ERP of approximately 47 watts.

The FCC granted the coalition’s petition in June. Some back and forth resulted, eventually leading to WNHA acknowledging that the station had operated at 50 watts TPO “for a brief time” in 2022, though it denied its earlier “misstatement” was intentional.

Ultimately, the FCC agreed to end its investigation and return the station’s 2017 license to active status in exchange for Alma Radio admitting to the investigation’s factual findings.

Alma Radio is now required to relocate its antenna to the previously authorized antenna placement and adhere to a maximum permitted ERP of 66 watts at a height of approximately 65 feet.

Before broadcast resumption, the station must submit and receive approval for a comprehensive compliance report verifying the installation with photos, calculations and tower owner confirmation.

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It’s always nice to take note of a successful radiothon, and this month, Audacy’s 105.9 KALC(FM) in Denver raised just over $1 million to support Children’s Hospital Colorado.

The 2026 “Alice 105.9 Cares for Kids Radiothon” marked the 25th anniversary of the partnership between the station and the Children’s Miracle Network. Since the event’s inception in 2001, the station has raised approximately $27 million for pediatric care.

The broadcast took place Feb. 12 at the Audacy Denver studios, featuring four of KALC’s on-air shows. 

Throughout the day, the station featured interviews with patients, families and frontline workers from Children’s Hospital Colorado.

The Aurora, Colo., headquartered hospital is the only nonprofit pediatric healthcare system in a seven-state region, serving approximately 300,000 children annually.

The funds raised are slated to support the development of new medical technologies and expand expert care access within the Front Range region.

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The post Alice 105.9 Raises $1 Million for Children’s Hospital Colorado appeared first on Radio World.

AI-based audio platform Auddia announced it has approved a merger with Thramann Holdings. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

Upon closing, Auddia will be renamed McCarthy Finney.

Auddia describes itself as an AI platform for audio identification and classification and related technologies, “reinventing how consumers engage with AM/FM radio, podcasts and other audio content.”

The platform will become a fully owned subsidiary alongside three Thramann Holdings entities. Jeff Thramann will remain CEO of the combined company and John Mahoney will remain CFO.

Thramann Holdings is privately held and controls LT350, Influence Healthcare and Voyex, three early stage companies using AI and founded by Thramann. He is an entrepreneur and inventor named on approximately 130 U.S. and international patents.

Thramann said in a release that he feels there is an opportunity for a company at the intersection of AI and Web3 to harness the technology to build “significant value across numerous verticals.”

Management estimates the base case valuation of McCarthy Finney at $250 million, based on a discounted cash flow analysis.

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The post Auddia to Merge With Thramann Holdings appeared first on Radio World.

As several readers have echoed to Radio World, Microwave Power Products’ pending shutdown of the former Econco facility — known for rebuilding vacuum tubes for transmitters — is a big deal.

MPP announced last week that the final day to request a repair for an Econco Power Grid tube is May 12. As we reported, the company will close its Woodland, Calif., manufacturing site in September.

The development has left tube-type transmitter operators with few other alternatives for rebuilds. Those models are still powering plenty of AM and FM stations across the continent.

But, tubes do ultimately fail, and recent designs perhaps more quickly than before. And the cost savings of a rebuilt tube, versus new builds, is often significant.

We asked how the pending closure of the Econco plant might affect your station or cluster.

Time-tested

Dave Morgan is the director of engineering at Sinclair Telecable in the Hampton Roads region of southeast Virginia. Among his properties are two AM sites using tube-type transmitters and a Gates/Harris FM model that our own John Bisset sold him some 27 years ago.

“These are excellent transmitters when properly operated, maintained and understood,” Morgan told us.

The Econco closure, Morgan said, was a major development.

Vacuum power tube technology is proven and still somewhat reliable, Morgan said, though he acknowledges it is less efficient than solid-state. But he’s observed over the years that Gates/Harris, Collins/Continental and Broadcast Electronics built their tube transmitters to last.

He pointed to Sinclair’s own Harris units at 850 WTAR(AM) and 790 WNIS(AM). WTAR runs off a Harris 50 kW MW-50, with a backup 5 kW MW-5 at its site near Rushmere, Va. WNIS runs off a solid-state Nautel XR6 from its site east of Hampton, but a tube-based MW-5B backs it up.

Morgan acknowledged that some engineers have reported quality control or lifespan issues from rebuilders in recent years.

“I understand that the power tube rebuilders and manufacturers might be having a harder time nowadays sourcing elements like tungsten and thorium,” he said.

But Morgan’s Sinclair properties — no relation to the large Sinclair Broadcast Group — have had no significant problems with rebuilt tubes over several decades.

He said his stations follow the rebuilder’s break-in procedures to the letter, pay close attention to filament voltages, aim for proper tuning, monitor stack temperatures and keep the ambient air inside the transmitter buildings clean, cool and dry.

Rising costs

“Like everything else after 2020, the costs for tube rebuilding shot up,” Morgan told us. As a result, the cost for brand-new tubes followed suit.

Jim Shelden, chief engineer of a six-station cluster in Bozeman, Mont., and operator of Sweetgrass Engineering, agreed that the plant closure is a “serious issue.”

Shelden said he currently has two 4CX15000As on the shelf that need to be rebuilt. He opted for a new Eimac tube in one of his cluster’s transmitters, but at the cost of $5,200 each, he said it was a tough pill to swallow.

“Our highest billing station runs a Continental Electronics 816R-2C at 20 kW,” Shelden told us. “The Continental has been very reliable and we have no intention of replacing it — particularly when comparing the cost of a new solid-state transmitter.”

[Related: “When Your Solid-State Transmitter Fails, Have a Backup Ready”]

Longtime Bay Area engineer Bill Ruck, who performs maintenance for the historic maritime coastal radio station KPH, said the station relies on vintage transmitters, most of which use ceramic power tubes. Because it is a National Park Service Historic Site, the station is unable to switch to solid-state.

“We do have a few spare tubes, but without Econco, at some point we won’t be able to make RF,” Ruck said.

The search for alternatives

Ron Petersen Sr., president of Carthage Broadcasting Company in Joplin, Mo., told us before the MPP announcement that he was already worried about the scarcity of power tubes.

His station, 95.1 KMXL(FM), uses a Broadcast Electronics FM-30, which delivers 50 kW of ERP. The FM-30 runs a 4CX20000A / 8990 Eimac power tube. Carthage had gravitated toward Econco’s rebuilt tubes due to the higher cost of Eimac’s new units. While the current tube has served his station well, his next move is uncertain should it fail.

Petersen had posed the question to us earlier, wondering if any broadcasters had used tubes redesigned by Jingguang in China and listed on Alibaba. The list price of approximately $3,000 is quite a bit less than the new Eimac price Shelden noted for the tube in his Montana transmitter.

However, looming tariffs made Petersen wonder if those prices will eventually increase as well.

Maintenance vs. replacement

Back in Virginia, Dave Morgan noted that if transmitters are still in good condition, age is not as much of a concern — particularly if parts are available and qualified engineers are nearby to work on them.

Older transmitters are also field-serviceable, Morgan noted, whereas solid-state models often require repairs to modular assemblies or boards performed at a factory or service depot.

While Morgan realizes that the broadcast market for power tube rebuilding has shrunk, he noted that there are still other commercial, industrial, scientific and government applications for the tubes.

He hopes that the Massachusetts-based Kennetron, which we noted in our original report, will be able to thrive after the latest development.

“Is there enough business to support both Econco/MPP and Kennetron?” Morgan wondered. “Sadly, apparently MPP and their new owners don’t think so, and presumably MPP could not find a buyer for the business.”

How is your station affected? Have you secured a rebuilt tube alternative? Share with us.

The post Radio Operators React to Econco Closure: “A Serious Issue” appeared first on Radio World.

Netherlands-based M&I Broadcast Services has announced the U.S. launch of OmniPlayer 3, its flagship radio automation software.

The system is now being positioned as an alternative to legacy platforms for U.S. broadcasters and syndicated hosts. M&I said the software holds a 95% market share in the Netherlands and is used by media companies as large as the BBC.

The software features the SmartTrack Audio Editor, designed to simplify audio preparation across broadcast, web and social media. It also includes a built-in workflow engine and API, allowing for custom script commands and GUI changes.

According to the company, the platform integrates with third-party hardware from manufacturers like DHD, Arrakis, Axia and Wheatstone. It supports multi-platform publishing to automate content delivery for podcasts and digital streams, aiming to reduce manual workloads for independent operators and large networks alike.

M&I said that early U.S. pilots are underway following the software’s North American implementation at Cogeco Media in Canada.

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From our Who’s Buying What page: Sound agency TM Studios has collaborated with Westwood One Sports to produce all new imaging for the network’s new 24/7 national sports channel.

Cumulus Media’s Westwood One and Audacy rebranded the Infinity Sports Network as Westwood One Sports back on Dec. 29. It’s an extension of the partnership between the companies that began with the launch of CBS Sports Radio back in 2012.

The channel’s new imaging package features a variety of contemporary show opens and beds anchored by a new four-note signature. According to a release, the new “sonic identity” blends elements of hip-hop, EDM and pop to create updated beds and audio logos.

You can listen to the montage below.

The entire TM Studios package is now on air on the nationwide Westwood One Sports network, which is carried by approximately 300 stations in the U.S., according to Wikipedia. It is also available on Sirius/XM Channel 375 and the Westwood One Sports app.

Westwood One is home to many sports broadcasting properties, including the NFL, NCAA Basketball and Football, U.S. Soccer and the Masters.

Submit announcements for Who’s Buying What to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Westwood One Sports Network Reimaged With TM Studios appeared first on Radio World.

Nick’s Signal Spot is a new feature in which Nick Langan explores RF signals, propagation, new equipment and related endeavors. 

Where I live in New Jersey, there are just so many FM signals around.

As a result, for the best long-distance signal monitoring results, I’ve learned over the years that sometimes, height isn’t always might. My FM Yagi antennas at approximately 10 feet above the ground will hear weak signals that my time-trusted APS-13 Yagi, mounted to my roof at about 20 feet above the ground, will not.

I attribute it to higher noise floor levels up above the ground.

But outside the eastern megalopolis? Well, that’s a different story. I’ve always wondered the kinds of things you could hear with a receiver connected to an antenna on a high tower!

Another fellow FM long-distance enthusiast, Jeff Lehmann (A1JL), shared with me a video engineer Roman Porterfield took earlier in February from North Dakota.

Porterfield is the single full-time engineer for i3G Media in Jamestown, N.D.

The tower site in the video, located in Eckelson, N.D., had lost power. Taking advantage of the silence, he plugged his Airspy HF+ software-defined radio into the site’s auxiliary antenna — which was pointed east from the site toward Valley City — and he started tuning around.

It is a fascinating look at what can be heard from about 640 feet above the ground.

At about the 12-minute mark, Porterfield switches reception to the main antenna, pointed westward toward Jamestown. Toward the end of the video, there is a fascinating look at the range of stations he is able to hear on 104.5 FM, a clear channel in that region.

First, 104.5 KCCR from Blunt, S.D., serving Pierre, comes in steady at about 205 miles. Then, it is replaced by 104.5 KBUN from Blackduck, Minn., arriving from the opposite direction at a distance of 171 miles.

The modern receiver

Porterfield, 22, told me he always had an interest in radio, but “The Modern Rogue” YouTube channel featured an episode on SDRs and he became even more intrigued. He bought his first SDR while he was still in high school, about 25 minutes outside of Minneapolis.

Now in North Dakota, Porterfield uses SDR IQ file recordings to archive sections of the FM band, particularly during road trips.

“Think radio tapes but instead of audio, it’s the full IQ of the recording,” he said.

I’ve always had trouble myself with managing SDR IQ file storage. IQ files are .WAV files, and recording several hours can encompass terabytes of data.

But Porterfield also writes software, and he pushed out to his GitHub repository a tool that allows you to chop IQ files into smaller, labeled segments and output them as FLAC-compressed files. It’s something I want to try out very soon.

In a database, Porterfield said he has nearly 23,000 clips, dating back to June 2020, many of which are of stations that no longer exist.

Porterfield told me he’s also working on metadata middleware software for RDS, stream data and HD Radio. He hopes that it will be a free, open-source, modular RDS middleware that treats metadata like a flow graph with logic inputs from Axia for aspects like simulcasting and advanced routing.

SDRs, I believe, are the future, and might be the link to engaging smart young folks like Porterfield again in the medium!

Ski and scan

Unless you can seek out high towers to plug into, most of us just need to travel to find those open dial locations.

Radio World contributor and long-distance signal enthusiast Karl Zuk nominated two sites — Yosemite Valley, Calif., and Lake Louise, Alberta — for our “Quiet FM Dial” locations list, noting they are phenomenal places to listen for meteor scatter.

Regarding the Canadian location, Zuk writes:

“Lake Louise now has two CBC transmitters nearby. When I first went up there in the 1980s, the only thing on FM was an aural TV transmitter on 87.75. At Lake Louise, just pick any frequency and sit for a while.

“Guaranteed to hear meteor scatter,” Zuk said.

“You really should go there. Phenomenal skiing and Rocky Mountain majesties.”

Is your transmitter alright?

Meanwhile, the discussion on long-distance signals, including the story I wrote on summer and fall tropospheric enhancement sparked a memory from longtime reader Bob Gonsett in southern California.

He recalls a moment circa 1980 when he received a call from a frustrated general manager of a well-known Mt. Wilson FM station in Los Angeles. The GM was upset that an adjacent-channel station in San Diego was causing temporary interference to his signal.

Gonsett shared the details of that memorable conversation:

“[The GM] assured me that the interference affected not only his station but other Wilson signals as well. He went on to explain his rationalization of the situation: There were certain summer days and times when all of the San Diego FM stations secretly agreed to greatly increase their transmitter output powers.

“My explanation of temperature inversion layer ducting — as we called it at the time — seemed to fall on deaf ears, unfortunately,” Gonsett explained.

[Read the Signal Spot from Nick Langan for More DX-Related Stories]

The post What Can You Hear From the Top of a Tower? appeared first on Radio World.

This week, the FCC issued orders to pay or show cause to two radio station licensees — one in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the other in Georgia — citing unpaid regulatory fees.

In Michigan, the commission has initiated proceedings to revoke the licenses held by Sovereign Communications due to unpaid fees, interest and penalties it said total approximately $37,000 for the years 2021 through 2024.

The affected stations in northern Michigan are 1400 WKNW(AM), 1230 WSOO(AM), 101.3 WSUE(FM) and 99.5 WYSS(FM) in Sault Ste. Marie; 93.9/1450 WNBY(AM/FM) in Newberry; and 105.5 WMKD(FM) in Pickford.

The commission noted that Sovereign has approximately $9,200 available from a prior overpayment that it can apply toward this debt.

In Georgia, meanwhile, Core Communications North faces similar scrutiny regarding two stations.

North of Atlanta, 94.5 WIPK(FM) in Calhoun owes approximately $21,000 in regulatory fees dating back to 2015. It missed payments each year since then, except for 2023, according to the Media Bureau.

Its sister station, 93.5 WMRG(FM) in Morgan, which is south of Columbus near Albany, owes approximately $6,500 for fees covering 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024.

Both Sovereign Communications and Core Communications North have 60 days to file evidence of full payment with the Media Bureau or show cause why the payment should be waived or deferred. Failure to comply within this timeframe may result in license revocation, the commission said.

Under FCC rules, the annual deadline for regulatory fees is typically in late September.

Late or incomplete payments incur a mandatory penalty equal to 25 percent of the unpaid fee, along with additional interest and administrative costs that accrue until the debt is paid in full.

[Related: “Radio Station Annual Fees Decline for 3rd Straight Year”]

The post Licenses at Risk in Michigan, Georgia for Unpaid FCC Fees appeared first on Radio World.

In the Mountaineer State’s capital city, the West Virginia Radio Corporation has nearly completed the largest project in the company’s history, transforming an analog facility into an AoIP command center — while managing to keep seven radio stations and a statewide network on the air.

The project centers on the Charleston, W.V., division of WVRC Media. Headquartered in Morgantown under parent company Greer Industries, WVRC operates 31 stations across West Virginia and Maryland.

The Charleston facility, located near the State Capitol, houses a cluster of seven stations. They are 580 WCHS(AM), 680 WKAZ(AM), 1490 WSWW(AM), 96.1 WKWS(FM), 98.7 WCST(FM), 99.9 WRVF(FM) and 107.3 WKAZ(FM), with associated FM translators for the AM outlets.

The building also serves as the nerve center for West Virginia Metro News. The statewide satellite network provides news, sports and talk programming to 61 affiliates, alongside a newly renovated TV/video studio for Metro News TV.

A change of plans

Originally, the vision was to move the Charleston operations to an entirely new facility.

But the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting external factors led WVRC’s executive team to pivot to a comprehensive renovation of their existing, historic location — the Frankenberger Mansion. It is composed of sections dating back 125 years, the 1950s and the 1980s.

“The majority of the existing Charleston facility was legacy analog,” said Kenneth Tennant, the director of engineering for WVRC Media, explained. “The renovation plan included converting entirely to AoIP.”

The scope was significant: nine studio renovations, new wall and floor finishes, LED lighting and the conversion of an underutilized space into a news gathering “bullpen” featuring four recording cubicles.

Furniture scramble

While the technical team — led internally by WVRC’s own engineering and IT staff — had a handle on the project’s wiring, a hurdle emerged regarding the furniture.

For nearly two decades, WVRC had relied on Omnirax for furniture designs. The Charleston plans were set, and orders were weeks away from being placed when Omnirax abruptly announced it was going out of business, as Radio World reported in 2023.

“After a short panic phase of ‘what do we do now,’ we all regrouped,” Tennant said. Relying on industry relationships, Tennant connected with Vince Fiola, owner of Studio Technology.

Fiola took the two-hour trip down Interstate 79 from Morgantown and offered to supply furniture designs and floor plans to rescue the Charleston project.

“He is a true professional that helped us out of a very precarious situation,” Tennant said of Fiola.

Studio Technology ultimately supplied the furniture for all the WVRC Charleston radio and video studios.

The Starship Enterprise

The technical overhaul was a leap from the early 1990s directly into the future. The facility was previously a fortress of analog reliability — hundreds of 25-pair cables and punch blocks that had served the station well for 40 years.

To modernize, WVRC leaned on a longstanding relationship with the Telos Alliance’s Axia line.

“WVRC Media was an early adopter of AoIP,” Tennant explained, citing a strong relationship with Telos’ Jim Armstrong.

Working with vendor Broadcasters General Store, the team outfitted the flagship stations with Axia Quasar SR consoles. Smaller stations and Metro News studios received a mix of Axia Radius, IQ, DeskQ and RackQ consoles.

WVRC chose WideOrbit 2023 for automation, replacing its existing WideOrbit 3.7.

“There are senior on-air personalities working in Charleston that used the same PR+E console for 35 years. Moving to an Axia Quasar was like asking them to pilot the Starship Enterprise,” Tennant joked. “Once past the learning curve, they realize AoIP consoles are similar to what they’ve always been accustomed to, just a million times more powerful.”

But, as evidence of the collaboration involved, Tennant said WVRC’s programming staff chose a combination of EV RE-20 and Shure SM-7 mics for the project.

Downright spooky

Perhaps the most impressive feat of the renovation was the continuity of service. The facility houses a large routing operation, handled by Pathfinder Core Pro, which manages the complex routing for the local stations and the Metro News satellite network.

Despite the demolition and the rewiring of a facility that runs 24/7, there were no significant outages.

“The other thing that makes this special is that we were able to keep seven radio stations and a statewide satellite network on the air during all the renovations,” Tennant said. “During the demolition phases, only a POTS fax line, a dry pair for a church service and two air monitors were accidentally cut.”

Every historic broadcast building has its quirks, but the Charleston facility might have actual spirits. Staff have long claimed the Frankenberger Mansion building is haunted, and it is even a stop on a local Halloween walking tour.

During the renovation of a new video producer studio, the team encountered a relic of the past: an old red “hotline” phone mounted to a rack.

Following the advice of a former employee who warned, “if that phone should happen to ring, do not answer it under any circumstances,” Tennant decided to leave the phone mounted and wired exactly as found — a nod to the building’s history, and perhaps, its spectral residents.

Looking ahead

The project is currently 95% complete, with final touches being applied this year. Tennant said that WVRC remains committed to a physical, people-first approach.

“At the end of the day, WVRC Media is a people-driven company,” Tennant said. “We still produce live and local content in all of our markets.

“There’s a reason our company tagline is: ‘We’re proud to live here too.'”

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Facility Showcases]

The post A Wild and Wonderful West Virginia Revamp appeared first on Radio World.

Microwave Power Products has announced it will close operations at the former Econco facility in California, ending its program for rebuilding power tubes used in vacuum tube-type broadcast transmitters.

MPP made the announcement late Wednesday. The company said in a release that operations at its Woodland, Calif., manufacturing site will cease on Sept. 1 as the company consolidates operations at its Palo Alto facility.

As part of the transition, MPP will discontinue repair services for Econco Power Grid tubes, though the company will continue to manufacture new tubes.

An MPP spokesperson declined to comment on the reasoning behind discontinuing the program.

The news is significant for stations using transmitters that require tubes such as the EIMAC 4CX20000E. Several readers have expressed concern regarding the dwindling number of companies offering rebuilt power tubes, which provide a cost-effective alternative to purchasing new tubes, or a solid-state transmitter.

The move includes the termination of Econco’s “bank” program. The program allowed customers to store non-working power grid tubes at the Woodland facility to be rebuilt and made available for future purchase.

MPP said that manufacturing of magnetrons and magnetron repair services will continue at the Palo Alto site.

Alternatives

Massachusetts-based Kennetron also advertises vacuum tube rebuilds.

Some readers have inquired about options on Alibaba, including those from Chinese manufacturer Jingguang. However, sourcing from China raises additional concerns regarding reliability and import tariffs.

The deadline to purchase repaired Econco Power Grid tubes is May 12 at the close of business. According to the release, failure to confirm a purchase or request the return of non-working tubes by that date will be treated as consent for MPP to dispose of any property remaining in the Bank program.

According to a timeline on MPP’s website, Econco was founded in 1968 and held the first contracts ever awarded by the U.S. government and the U.S. Navy to remanufacture microwave devices, twice receiving the Navy’s Award for Excellence.

Communications & Power Industries acquired Econco in 2004. In June 2024, Microwave Power Products Inc. and the CPI Electron Device Business spun off from CPI to become an independent entity.

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

The post MPP Announces Closure of Former Econco Facility appeared first on Radio World.

In proposed legislation in the European Union to help regulate electronic communication, there are provisions outlined to safeguard terrestrial radios in new cars sold in its member states.

On Jan. 20, the European Commission set out its proposals for the Digital Networks Act, which aims to streamline regional rules on connectivity networks across the EU.

In that proposal, the commission included language that would guarantee radio receivers in new passenger vehicles sold in member states must be capable of receiving available radio stations via digital broadcasting.

While the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) felt reassured that radio is preserved in conventional automobiles, it said more ambition is needed to ensure terrestrial radio in all vehicle types.

“We regret that crucial access to radio has not been expanded to ensure terrestrial broadcast radio presence and access in all vehicles as radio is a lifeline in times of crisis,” said EBU Senior EU Policy Advisor Vincent Sneed in a statement following the release of the proposal.

The Association of European Radios (AER) also welcomed the Digital Networks Act but called for stronger safeguards for radio in connected cars.

“The Digital Networks Act is crucial and needs to make sure that every new vehicle sold in the EU — not just passenger cars — is required to include a built‑in broadcast radio receiver,” Francesca Fabbri of the AER told us.

As our sister site ITPro reported, the act would introduce mandatory national transition plans to phase out copper networks and transition to advanced networks between 2030 and 2035.

A cross-party group of members of the European Parliament had urged the commission to include safeguards for radio in connected cars in the proposed act, in a letter sent to the European Commission’s president earlier in January.

Radio guarantees

Standard passenger vehicles sold in the EU must come equipped with radio receivers that are “interoperable,” according to the Jan. 20 proposal.

In this context, interoperability serves to cover the DAB+ standard, whether it be via digital terrestrial signals.

The proposal also explicitly states there is no ban on receiving analog broadcasts, as it states new vehicles are not prohibited from “being capable of receiving and reproducing radio services provided via analog terrestrial radio broadcasting.”

Member states are not prevented from imposing obligations to ensure that digital radio receivers are capable of receiving and reproducing analog radio broadcasts, according to the proposal.

This may improve public safety, according to the DNA, by enabling listeners to rely on a “wider set of technologies” for accessing and receiving emergency information in member states.

But Sneed told us the provision also does not include “light vehicles” or “mini-cars,” which often do not include receivers, rather just a smartphone holster. It also does not account for vehicles carrying goods or light-weight vehicles, for example.

“Expanding the mandate to goods-carrying vehicles is also a safety issue for professional drivers,” Sneed told Radio World. “If there is no cellular network, these drivers have zero access to emergency information.”

Existing legislation

The inclusion of the provisions in the proposed DNA follows the implementation of the European Electronic Communications Code of 2018. Before that directive mandated DAB+ in new passenger cars starting in late 2020, digital radio integration hovered between 20% and 30% across most EU member states.

Today, that figure has climbed to approximately 95%.

However, that success led the European Commission to consider dropping the rule entirely in the proposed DNA, Sneed explained, under the logic that the market had already matured.

The EBU and AER feared fearing that without a legal floor, automakers might pivot toward screen-only, IP-based dashboards that prioritize proprietary apps over free-to-air broadcast.

By expanding the mandate to commercial and light vehicles, advocates hope to close the remaining “broadcast blind spot.”

Timeline

The proposed DNA will be the object of fierce opposition for reasons far beyond the connected car  — as it contains more than 200 articles.

The next step is for the proposal to be presented to the European Parliament and Council for approval.

As a result, Sneed told us to expect two more years of debate.

(Read the full Digital Networks Act proposal.)

The post Proposed EU Digital Networks Act Would Mandate Radio in New Cars appeared first on Radio World.

This is part of a series on streaming best practices. David Bialik is director of engineering for MediaCo in New York City. He is co-chair of the Broadcast and Online Delivery Technical Committee for the Audio Engineering Society and the chair of the Streaming and Metadata Usage Working Group for the National Radio Systems Committee. He has spent decades researching and servicing broadcast streaming workflows. 

Radio World: David, what do you see as the most important issue in streaming for radio? 

David Bialik: One of the most important things that’s beginning to get looked at is loudness control. As streaming has evolved and stations are monetizing it by injecting advertising from other areas, loudness control becomes very important. You don’t want listeners reaching for the volume knob because the ads are 3 to 6 dB louder than the content.

RW: What standards govern streaming loudness and what are the recommended levels?

Bialik: Loudness control has been highlighted in AES TD1008, AES71-2018 and AES77-20232. The rules are now a standard: For a video stream, the loudness level should be –24 LKFS. For a music stream, it is usually between –16 and –17 LKFS. 

If you’re injecting your commercials at that level, people will not reach for the volume knob.

RW: Are there free resources or monitoring tools available for loudness control?

Bialik: Yes, the TD1008 paper is free on the AES website. Additionally, there are free software monitoring devices like the Youlean loudness meter or the Orban loudness meter, both of which work very well. 

RW: Should a station’s over-the-air and streamed audio be processed alike?

Bialik: Absolutely not. You have to process a stream differently than your over-the-air broadcast because there are different parameters. OTA has the ability to be louder because you can go above zero, but in streams, you don’t want to go above zero. They should be processed to the point where they sound good, and you can recognize the instruments being played, avoiding over-processing. 

RW: When does latency become a major concern for streaming, and what are the best practices for handling it?

Bialik: It depends on which codec you are using and your audio chain. A lot of stations these days are using HLS and AAC. Very few are using MP3 anymore. 

If you’re just streaming music, latency is not as much of a concern. However, you want low latency if you’re streaming sports or any type of talk where listeners are interacting, like call-in radio. For sports, people often watch the television but listen to the local announcer over the stream, and a significant delay makes this impossible.

To cut down potential latency, many audio professionals are following the lead of television streaming, which has developed low-latency methodologies — like the CMAF segment format — because of the demands of sports coverage.

RW: How does ad insertion relate to streaming workflows, and what resources are available for managing it?

Bialik: Ad insertion is often controlled by metadata. You need to have your metadata clean so that your systems will call up the right ad at the right time. Nowadays, metadata even has the ability to control loudness.

The comprehensive resource for this is the NRSC-G-304, the Metadata for Streaming Audio Handbook, which is available as a free download.

RW: How has the move toward virtualization and cloud-based services changed streaming workflows?

Bialik: Many ad networks and content delivery networks are now cloud-based. The “cloud” is just another place where the servers and infrastructure are located — the equipment is somewhere else, and you’re linking to it.

Broadcasters often use CDNs, which fit the definition of a cloud because you send your signal up to them, and they distribute it out. This is how ad content is delivered from a different source and integrated into your stream. 

RW: Beyond loudness, what are some other common technical mistakes in streaming?

Bialik: “Now playing” data not being synchronized is a big one. For instance, if you’re playing music, the song title has to come up on the screen in sync with the audio. A mismatch can occur across different platforms like HD Radio, RDS and the stream if the databases aren’t synchronized.

RW: Given the capabilities of modern streaming, what is one of the biggest things broadcasters need to focus on?

Bialik: Educate their salespeople on what they’re selling.

With streaming analytics, you can know exactly who is listening, what they’re listening to, what they’re listening on and even where they live. Since streaming is a bidirectional service, you can get the exact metrics of how many listeners you have. Leveraging this data for targeting is very important for sales.

RW: How should broadcasters view their role in the current content landscape?

Bialik: Broadcasters need to remember that they are first and foremost content distributors. They are distributing content over the air and on the stream, and some of that content might be the same, but some might be different. They are a conduit for distributing content, and by putting content on an HD channel or a stream, they are giving the public more ways to listen to more content, which increases competition.

Read more on this topic in the Radio World ebook “Streaming Best Practices.”

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

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Even for an experienced duo like the father-and-son combination of Joe and Jeff Geerling, they were amazed at all that goes into keeping St. Louis Blues games ready for fans watching both at home and in the arena.

Joe is a broadcast engineer with more than five decades of experience in the St. Louis radio market and is currently the director of engineering at Covenant Network.

Jeff is an accomplished software architect and developer who started to tag along with his dad on radio exploits at an early age.

Joe and Jeff have produced many YouTube sensations, typically related to radio and engineering. We’ve detailed them in the past.

They used an opportunity in October to explore the Enterprise Center, the home of St. Louis’ NHL team, to detail what goes into the Blues’ video broadcast productions.

At the bottom of this story you can watch the entire video. First, some background.

The human element

At first, the Geerlings thought the visit was going to be an equipment “geek out” inside an SMPTE ST 2110 IP-based mobile unit, the nerve center for TV broadcasts at Blues games, in the flavor of Geerling Engineering videos in the past. The truck is operated by Mobile TV Group and according to Jeff, it drives to multiple broadcast facilities throughout a given week.

And while there’s plenty of AoIP, Dante, cameras and other modern equipment featured in their latest video, in a refreshing twist for 2026, it’s more about another aspect.

“It really shows the dedication of the team in broadcasting,” Joe Geerling told us.

The third team, as Jeff put it.

Inside the truck

The video goes inside each of the three such teams at Blues games: One production crew for the fans in the building, one for FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, which broadcasts Blues’ games, and one for whomever that night’s away team happens to be.

The home team truck’s broadcast engineer, Chris Bailey from the Mobile TV Group, took the Geerlings inside the truck that is used at Blues’ games.

“This team is amazing with how they put together the use of all the technology in real-time,” Joe reported from inside the truck.

Timing, is of course, critical. Jeff noticed that GPS is not used for time sync inside the Mobile TV Group truck.

That’s because of poor satellite reception. So instead, the truck’s Evertz Master Clocks are frequently synced manually to an atomic time source — such as the iOS Atomic Clock app — to ensure the truck’s internal pulse matches the rest of the world.

There’s other “old tech” at work in the video too. Jeff anticipated fiber cables to be everywhere. Instead, analog copper is the choice.

“If you have one or two copper wires go dead, you can still have a show,” he explained. 

Jeff remarked that inside the truck, the atmosphere was almost solemn. Everyone is quiet, but constantly aware of everything going on around them. He captured some of that back-and-forth in the video.

Hockey is different

They also showed off what goes inside the Enterprise Center, where there is a separate production crew delivering visuals to the fans inside the arena.

“Hockey is the best and most challenging,” longtime cameraman Mike Munaco told Jeff. “It is the most fun to shoot because you have to stay ahead of what the announcers are talking about.”

Chris Kerber, the play-by-play announcer for Blues’ home TV broadcasts on FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, talked about the visual and auditory back-and-forth with the production truck.

“The chain doesn’t work unless every link is strong,” Kerber said about the FanDuel production truck. “If the real good synergies aren’t there, then the fans don’t get a good experience.”

There is a great deal of gear highlighted in the video, but really, it’s about the human touch.

“It’s a huge group of great talent, and none of it is wasted,” Jeff said.

Watch the video:

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