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An inside look at radio technology and other news twice a
month from Radio World News Editor/Washington Bureau Chief
Leslie Stimson.
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Issue: Jul. 01, 2008
APCO Spells Out Satellite Lab Process
APCO Worldwide, a PR and communications firm, has laid out how an independent lab might certify joint satellite radios should Sirius and XM merge.
APCO was supporting a proposal submitted by U.S. Electronics that an independent lab examine and approve devices meant to access a merged Sirius satellite radio network for compliance.
In an FCC filing following a recent meeting with Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, APCO said it needs technical parameters to be specified in order to “examine and approve devices meant to access a merged Sirius satellite radio network for compliance.”
First, Sirius/XM, the FCC and manufacturers would need to agree on and publish standards for receivers that could decode the signals of both services. Then manufacturers would design, develop and produce prototypes.
Interested labs would also study the devices and put in place equipment needed to certify them. Once the FCC has okayed certain labs as certification centers, manufacturers would choose one to send its devices to for certification.
Then, once an assigned lab has certified a device and issued a report to the FCC, the manufacturer would file to register that receiver with the commission as compliant with the required specs.
“In such a program, there is no need for the merged entity and the manufacturers to interface,” writes APCO. “Indeed, the process is intended to prevent the merged entity from controlling or favoring any device.”
If a device meets the criteria on paper but subsequently causes interference or doesn’t work, it would be barred from use and the company prohibited from marketing or selling that particular item, according to APCO, which also included information on 18 FCC-recognized labs.
Ibiquity: What About Exclusivity Arrangements?
Several Democratic senators wrote the commission in support of mandating HD-R receivers in future satellite radios should the FCC approve the XM/Sirius merger.
Ibiquity Digital President Bob Struble agreed with what the lawmakers said, and added that such a condition still wouldn’t quite solve the disparity that exists between satellite and HD Radio.
“Their proposal does not eliminate the many existing exclusivity arrangements that XM and Sirius currently have. And it fails to address many of the technical issues that would bar the inclusion of HD Radio technology in devices and would create numerous financial relationships the merged company could use to block competition,” according to Struble.
He’s hoping the commission will address these issues.
In the letter to Chairman Martin, Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Claire McCaskill of Missouri stressed that “the commission needs to ensure that device manufacturers are required to integrate HD Radio receivers into all satellite radio receivers. ... The required integration of HD Radio capabilities in these new satellite receivers is an essential check against the merged entity using its monopoly power to stifle a promising new free, over-the-air radio technology.”
The timing of an FCC decision on the merger, and what conditions each commissioner might favor, remain up in the air.
Ibiquity has taken no position on the merger but has lobbied for mandatory HD Radio capability in any new interoperable sat rad receivers.
WAMU HD2 Steps Out With Open House
Here’s how to promote your station and HD Radio: with an open house.
Hundreds of visitors turned out for the first such event on Sunday for the HD2 channel for WAMU(FM), Washington, which airs “Bluegrass Country.”
WAMU staff gave studio tours for more than 300 visitors, and listeners also heard bluegrass bands on the lawn, according to Richard Cassidy, director of content operations for WAMU.
Ibiquity Digital staff brought car demos, handouts of HD Radio facts and radios for display.
You can see some of the pictures in the gallery.
A ‘Green’ Tale for Desert Station
In these days of rising power and gas prices, more stations are going “green.”
I heard from Chris Rolando, president/CEO of Murphy Broadcasting, who says KFTT(FM) in Bagdad, Ariz. — “K-FAT” — is about the “greenest” radio station there is.
The 900 watt Class C3 facility runs 100% solar at its transmitter site and uses solar power for its STL.
Soon, the company will add about 180 solar panels to the roof of the adjoining, co-owned bar and grill to feed power to the studio.
The station, which has been on the air for nine months, sits in rough terrain amid mountains. “It’s hard to truck in diesel here, and the roads are steep,” Rolando said. It had a generator fueled by propane as a back-up to the solar powered system.
Do you have a “green” story to tell? Write me at Lstimson@nbmedia.com.
Vinyl Makes a Comeback
Everything old is new again, as records come back in style.
So says Rolling Stone, which reports that record labels EMI and Universal are reissuing their best-selling back catalog titles on vinyl as listeners ditch CDs for vinyl.
Josh Bizar, marketing director at Music Direct, a company that specializes in “everything analog” (turntables and needles to new vinyl to record-cleaning products) says a lot of new music on LP is available and big-box retail chains are carrying a few entry-level turntables from major companies like Sony and Panasonic. Music Direct carries some 40 models.
That sounds like good news for engineers looking to obtain styli and other parts for the one turntable many stations still maintain.
Ibiquity License Fees Go Up
Ibiquity’s fee for stations to license its HD Radio technology went up to $25,000 per main channel this week.
There had been a discount in place; those who signed up by June 30 paid $15,000 and the conversion deadline was waived.
That conversion deadline is still waived, according to Ibiquity’s licensing fact sheet.
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