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Bill Thompson Memorial January 28

A memorial for recently deceased veteran broadcast engineer Bill Thompson will be held Sunday, January 28, at 2:00 PM at the Kearny Mesa Moose Lodge, 3636 Ruffin Road, San Diego. Social quarters will open at 1:00 PM with the memorial service starting at 2:00 PM. A light lunch will be provided after the service. 

The family says additional parking is available at 3634 Ruffin Road, but they ask that you do not park under the building. A second parking lot is available at 3626 Ruffin Road, but “do not park near the main entrance or under the solar canopy, and do not use the EV charging stations.”

September 2023 Meeting: Alan Jurison and 4th Gen HD Radio

Generation4 HD Radio hardware and software offers immense flexibility and reliability of HD Radio transmissions. Alan will discuss the benefits of upgrading from Gen3 to Gen4 and discuss best practices and field implementation of Gen4 technology.

Join us Tuesday, September 12th at 11:30 AM online. Sign up for the Zoom call here. This meeting was organized by Chapter 47, Los Angeles.

About Alan Jurison

Alan Jurison, iHeartMedia

Alan started at age 15 with Pilot Communications in Syracuse, NY. During this time, he developed the technical aspects of the industry’s first remote voice-tracking for stations in distant cities which later became commonplace in the industry. He graduated with a B.S. in Information Management and Technology from Syracuse University and was promoted to Regional Information Systems Manager and Broadcast Engineer for Citadel Broadcasting, now Cumulus Media. For 11 years, he led many IT and Engineering projects companywide. In 2012, Alan joined iHeartMedia as a Senior Operations Engineer for the corporate Technical Operations group. Much of his focus has been on deploying and advancing iHeartMedia’s digital HD Radio data services. Alan is a member of the SBE) and holds several certifications, including Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer (CPBE), AM Directional Specialist (AMD), Digital Radio Broadcast (DRB), and Broadcast Networking Engineer (CBNE). Alan serves on the NAB Radio Technology Committee (NABRTC) and National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC). Alan has been in the radio industry for over 29 years and offers a unique perspective on the convergence of IT and broadcast engineering.

FEMA Announces National EAS Test Date

FEMA has announced the date for the 2023 NPT, now known as the “Nationwide Test of the Emergency Alert System.”

The date chosen is October 4th at 11:20 PM Pacific Time, with a backup date of October 11.

The plan is to test EAS and WEA systems. The FormTwo will be granted an extra day, requiring it to be filed by October 5th.  Form Three will be due no later than November 20th. If you have any changes in station ownership or contacts since earlier this year, you should update your Form One, too, before September 15th. You can access the forms on the ETRS page. 

More information is on the FEMA and the FCC sites. 

TEGNA-Standard General Merger Collapses

The proposed merger between TEGNA and Standard General has collapsed, according to a statement from TEGNA. The merger would have seen Standard General acquire TEGNA for $5.4 billion, including the company’s San Diego-based television station, KFMB TV.

The collapse of the merger comes after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) raised concerns about the deal and called for a hearing on the matter. The delay caused the deal to pass a finance deadline.  The FCC said that the merger would have given Standard General too much control over local news and could have led to higher prices for cable and satellite TV subscribers.