Stations: Confirm Your Station is Compliant with EAS Updates
By Larry Wilkins, Chair, SBE EAS Advisory Group
The FCC and FEMA are in the process of making changes in the EAS and CAP system. Most of these changes concern security issues. To aid stations in understanding these changes and what will be required to keep your EAS units compliant, we have put together the following information.
Continue reading EAS UpdateThe FCC today announced the approval of Nexstar Broadcasting Group’s acquisition of Tribune Media. Nexstar will become the largest owner of TV stations with more than 200 outlets nationwide.
Nexstar will have to divest 21 stations in markets where their outlets will put the company over FCC station count limits. They’ve planned to sell off those excess stations to the Tegna, Scripps, and Circle City groups.
In San Diego, Tribune has operated KSWB-TV, known locally as “Fox 5,” that the group purchased in a bankruptcy sale in 1995 for $70-million.
Tribune Media owned the San Diego Union-Tribune from May 2015 until it was purchased by Patrick Soon-Shiong in February 2018.
Following the exploits of inserting a signal or two or three on 101.1 MHz into San Diego can be a part-time job. KRTH (FM) Los Angeles, the ancient, grandfathered behemoth it remains, covers far outside its home market. Here’s what San Diegans are doing to try to change that:
KVIB-LP San Diego, owned by the World Beat Center, was granted an STA request to remain silent on August 20, 2019. An FCC Minor Modification application dated September 10, 2019, notes a new station location at 3295 Meade Avenue in Normal Heights–a location less encumbered by antenna height limits and with greater surrounding population. [9/19/19 UPDATE – The FCC dismissed the move to Normal Heights due to spacing requirements to the new application by KECR, below, made only days before. –GS]
KECR (AM) requested a translator on 100.1 MHz, but the FCC dismissed that application, saying it violated an international agreement protecting the 2nd adjacent channel XHTY 99.7 in Tijuana. That protection extends to 72 km. They filed September 5, 2019, for 101.1 MHz instead, with a northward radiation pattern from Mt. San Miguel.
KRSP-LP El Cajon was granted a license last year to operate on 101.1 MHz, but La Maestra Clinic, the licensee, later wrote a letter to the FCC stating that in fact, the station had never been constructed or operated and was turning in its license. A later Petition for Reconsideration from another party claiming to be associated with the Clinic wanted the license reinstated. The FCC put an end to that Petition by denying it in a September 10 letter.
It will be interesting to see what happens. Any low power station will be challenged by the magnitude of the KRTH signal.
Radio Ink and Radio Insight are reporting that Entercom suffered a group-wide attack on their IT infrastructure over the weekend of September 7 – 8, 2019. They are said to have successfully isolated automation audio playout but are having to manually process sales orders and create operations logs.
In San Diego, Entercom stations include KBZT (FM) 94.9, KYXY (FM) 96.5, KWFN (FM) 97.3, and KSON (FM) 103.7. We have no confirmation of this attack locally as their corporate policy doesn’t allow staffers to discuss internal issues.
Ransomware attacks have made news lately as cities, school districts, and other businesses have had their computer files encrypted with an accompanying ransom notice demanding cryptocurrency for payment. Many organizations choose not to pay, but their internal recoveries can cost more than the ransom payment.
Thanks to Bill Lipis for the news tip.
You should be able to drive around our terrain-challenged media market and receive excellent FM broadcast reception everywhere. Till now you haven’t been able to because of signal shadows and multipath. GEO Broadcast Solutions has been working on this throughout the nation and this year has been helping Entercom’s KWFN (FM) locally extend their 97.3 MHz signal through a series of boosters extending their coverage into northern San Diego County. The science of this is more complex than you might imagine; boosters have to be in-phase to the digital bit to work effectively. How do they do that?
Bert Goldman, advisor to GEO Broadcast Solutions, discussed at our September chapter meeting the science and implementation of what they call “Maxxcasting™,” SFN’s for FM broadcast transmission. They’re also working on a related technology, “ZoneCasting™” that could allow geographic targeting of ads within Maxxcasting™ regions.
Many thanks to GEO Broadcasting Solutions and the attendees who made this meeting a great success.
Continue reading September 2019 Meeting – Single Frequency Networks for Radio