| As I write this I am about to
head for Washington DC to participate in the annual EAS Summit sponsored by NAB and NASBA.
This event is a great opportunity for many of the stakeholders in the EAS process
to come together to discuss the process of improving our public warning system. My
first meeting will be between members of the SBE EAS Committee (I am no longer chair, but
still participate) and the group that leads the PEP (Primary Entry Point) effort.
After that will be a meeting with Antwane Johnson, Division Director of IPAWS
(Integrated Public Alert and Warning System) at FEMA….and so it will go through
Sunday and into Monday. I can only assume that you may be wondering what’s
really going on with what some are calling Next-Gen EAS. Ask me when I get back and
I will be able to much better answer that one. Certainly reporters from media-mags
will be there so you will be able to read about the event as well. If you are interested
in EAS and what to keep up with all this – I encourage you to subscribe to the SBE
EAS Exchange. Instructions on how to subscribe to this remailer are on the SBE Web
Site under Government Relations. To keep track of what’s happening to EAS in
our state, the Seattle Chapter of SBE in cooperation with Hatfield and Dawson have a
remailer for that purpose – contact me for information on how to subscribe. Well is this a winter for the books. El Nino’ has been
doing a number in California with torrents of rain…the rest of the country has had
record setting amounts of winter weather….Meanwhile, just as predicted, we have had a
very mild one. Understand that January was the warmest in history. For those
of us that travel to West Tiger to work on things up there…we have not had to put on
chains thus far (knock-knock). With that being said, I have seen snow up there into
April - but that was a ‘normal’ winter. It’s hard believe that I have
been mowing my lawn in February! Thanks to the coverage of the Olympics from nearby
Vancouver, everyone is not only able to see our unusual weather this winter, but they are
also able to see just how beautiful this part of the world is. I understand that
ratings for the TV coverage have been very good, in one case, they beat American Idol.
The HD Radio power increase remains one of the topics of
conversation in the Radio Biz. Many stations are doing the math to determine exactly
how much more power they can run and are trying to figure out how to do it without
expending huge sums of money. Early on, a lot of stations installed systems using a
10 db combiner. This meant that 90% of their digital power went into a dump load.
These folks may not need an expensive new transmitter if they can figure out how to
get more of that power into the air. Several outfits are thinking the same thing and
trotting out new offerings. The up-coming NAB show in Las Vegas will likely have
renewed interest in this topic. Perhaps it needs to be underscored that not –
all – stations will be able to operate with HD power at 10% of analog. It all
depends on other stations whose contours are close to or touch the proponents. What
this will mean is that some stations will be able to operate with higher digital power
than others. Perhaps one day this will be a factor in the ‘value’ of the
property?
Here’s a headline that is, perhaps, a little hard to
believe –
The Federal Communications Commission has proposed revising some of its rules
as part of its effort to make processes more efficient.
Apparently so. The Commish is looking at ways to
improve. Among its more radical ideas is to start using more email and less
snail-mail – (Shocker). Look for an NPRM out shortly.
The FCC also is looking at getting more people connected to
the Web via broadband. A recent announcement showed that about one-third of the
country does not have a broadband Internet connection at home. To a broadcaster
– this is a problem? Seems to me that the more people have broadband the more
likely they are to not listen and/or view over the air products. Guess we should not
expect the FCC to only look out for our interests?
As they say …..But wait, there is more!
The Commish is proposing an auction be set up that will
allow TV broadcasters to voluntarily sell their spectrum for a share of the proceeds.
Kind of like a commission on the sale? This one is not going to go away soon
as the FCC is trying to come up with spectrum - from - anyone they can.
Got a note the other day from old friend Jack Barnes (ex
KOMO). He reported that he was going to get a replacement knee. He added -
Other than the knee problem I am still doing OK and
enjoying retirement. I still dabble in Amateur Radio and also astronomy. I
just picked up a Kenwood TS-940S in good condition and have been checking out all the
digital modes. This is my largest technology leap in many years. I am slowly
moving away from tube gear but at a measured pace.
I still don’t do “Texting”,
“Facebook” or “Twitter”….guess my standards are just too high.
Are you going to NAB this year? Time to get those
reservations made. I do understand that the economic situation is still keeping room
prices down. It’s April 12-15 this year.
Looking at how the economy is impacting our biz…here
are some items that caught my eye this past month -
> RAB says that 2009 was one of the worst for Radio.
> Entercom’s CEO is quoted as saying that his company is having a revenue
recovery. Their published results for 2009 were 15% below 2008.
> ABC News has announced that they are going to lay off perhaps as much as 25% of their
personnel.
> Legendary rock & roll KSTN in Stockton California has gone dark.
> CBS reports that both their Radio and TV efforts are improving despite another bad
Q4.
> A federal bankruptcy judge has given Tribune more time to put together a plan to get
out of Chapter 11.
> Penton Media, who publishes Radio and Broadcast Engineering magazine has filed for
Chapter 11 with reportedly 270 million in debt.
Down in Portland, there have been some major changes at
their major TV outlets, KPTV, KOIN and KATU with layoffs, consolidation and automation of
their newscasts. KPTV’s parent company, Meredith, is outsourcing their master
control operations to Phoenix. In all, a number of jobs will be lost in PDX.
The consolidation of master control operations is, of course, nothing new in this
industry where this cost saving effort has been ongoing for several years, even before the
recession.
Congratulations to Dwight Small who recently passed the 25
year mark working for most of the same stations. If I am successful in staying with
Entercom through May, it will be 28 for me.
Some time ago, after the crash of a TV chopper, I openly
asked why more markets don’t share a single chopper. I thought it was wasteful
to see multiple birds circling the same event. In Denver they are doing just that
where two stations have been sharing. Come April 1, a 3rd will join the plan where
one helicopter races out for that breaking news video.
Remember Allen Hartles early electronic billboards where
you could see the title of the song displayed? It all started here in Seattle.
Now Clear Channel is taking this another step in 29 markets. Their billboards
will give you traffic updates. Have not heard if they will be doing this in
Seattle…but I would not be surprised.
Coverage of the disaster in Haiti has been interesting.
Heartwarming is all the work that our industry put forth to help raise funds and
needed items. A little station in market #159, Ashville, NC, reportedly raised some
$272,000. Understand that there were about 50 stations in the country prior to the
quake, only a handful survived.
Here’s the latest in radio formats - Spanish
News/Talk, Bustos did it recently in Portland. On 1010 AM.
I am hearing reports that 104.5 – KMCQ may indeed have
new owners coming. Rumors of the sale have been running around town of late.
It’s been well known that First Broadcasting has been actively trying to find
a buyer. Perhaps by next month, we will know who.
It seems that just about every issue I report on the
passing of someone in this business I had worked with in the past. In this case,
it’s Paul Herlinger who passed on February 2nd. A very nice and gracious man.
Thanks to David Christian for letting us know.
Everyone involved in Broadcast Engineering has had
something to do with NIER, certainly those that work near or with transmitters and perhaps
ENG microwave etc. The latest issue of Popular Science has a very interesting piece
about a fellow living in Sweden who reported gets very sick when exposed to minute
quantities of the stuff. An interesting read.
Here’s a sobering stat – Over 60 Million are
listening to Internet Radio every week.
From the – You’d think they would have known it
by now department comes news that the FCC has recently fined two radio stations for not
telling callers that they were on the air, prior to being placed there. Wow!
From the what’s a name department comes word that P.
Harris Morris is the new president of Harris. Probably did not hurt that Harris is his
middle name.
As usual, I like to leave you with something not so
serious. This month, with sincere thanks to Lowell Smith, we have the ENGINEER
IDENTIFICATION TEST
You walk into a room and notice that a picture is hanging
crooked. You...
A. Straighten it.
B. Ignore it.
C. Buy a CAD system and spend the next six months designing a solar-powered,
self-adjusting picture frame while often stating aloud your belief that the inventor of
the nail was a total moron.
The correct answer is "C" but partial credit can
be given to anybody who writes "It depends" in the margin of the test or simply
blames the whole stupid thing on "Marketing".
FASCINATION WITH GADGETS
To the engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed
into one of two categories:
(1) things that need to be fixed, and
(2) things that will need to be fixed after you've had a few minutes to play with them.
Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no
problems handily available, they will create their own problems. Normal people don't
understand this concept; they believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.
No engineer looks at a television remote control without wondering what it would take to
turn it into a stun gun. No engineer can take a shower without wondering if some
sort of Teflon coating would make showering unnecessary. To the engineer, the world
is a toy box full of sub-optimized and feature-poor toys.
FASHION AND APPEARANCE
Clothes are the lowest priority for an engineer, assuming
the basic thresholds for temperature and decency have been satisfied. Anything else
is a waste.
DATING AND SOCIAL LIFE
Dating is never easy for engineers. A normal person
will employ various indirect and duplicitous methods to create a false impression of
attractiveness. Engineers are incapable of placing appearance above function.
Fortunately, engineers have an ace in the hole. They are widely recognized as
superior marriage material: intelligent, dependable, employed, honest, and handy around
the house. While it's true that many normal people would prefer not to date an
engineer, most normal people harbor an intense desire to mate with them, thus producing
engineer like children who will have high-paying jobs.
HONESTY
Engineers are always honest in matters of technology and
human relationships. That's why it's a good idea to keep engineers away from
customers, romantic interests, and other people who can't handle the truth.
Engineers sometimes bend the truth to avoid work. They say things that sound
like lies but technically are not because nobody could be expected to believe them.
POWERS OF CONCENTRATION
If there is one trait that best defines an engineer it is
the ability to concentrate on one subject to the complete exclusion of everything else in
the environment. This sometimes causes engineers to be pronounced dead prematurely.
Some funeral homes in high-tech areas have started checking resumes before
processing the bodies. Anybody with a degree in electrical engineering or experience
in computer programming is propped up in the lounge for a few days just to see if he or
she snaps out of it.
RISK
Engineers hate risk. They try to eliminate it
whenever they can. This is understandable, given that when an engineer makes one
little mistake, the media will treat it like it's a big deal or something.
EXAMPLES OF BAD PRESS FOR ENGINEERS
* Hindenberg.
* Space Shuttle Challenger.
* Apollo 13.
* Titanic.
* Ford Pinto.
* Corvair.
And a bunch of stuff invented for no other purpose than
just because we could. Being practical people, engineers evaluate this balance of
risks and rewards and decide that risk is not a good thing. The best way to avoid
risk is by advising that any activity is technically impossible for reasons that are far
too complicated to explain. If that approach is not sufficient to halt the project,
then the engineer will fall back to a second line of defense: "It's technically
possible but it will cost too much."
EGO
The fastest way to get an engineer to solve a problem is to
declare that the problem is unsolvable. No engineer can walk away from an unsolvable
problem until it's solved. No illness or distraction is sufficient to get the
engineer off the case. These types of challenges quickly become personal -- a battle
between the engineer and the laws of nature. Nothing is more threatening to the
engineer than the suggestion that somebody has more technical skill. Normal people
sometimes use that knowledge as a lever to extract more work from the engineer. When
an engineer says that something can't be done (a code phrase that means it's not fun to
do), some clever normal people have learned to glance at the engineer with a look of
compassion and pity and say something along these lines, "I'll ask Bob to figure it
out. He knows how to solve difficult technical problems." At that point
it is a good idea for the normal person to not stand between the engineer and the problem.
The engineer will set upon the problem like a starved Chihuahua on a pork chop.
Enjoy Spring – Catch you next month.
Clay Freinwald, K7CR, CPBE |
