Society of Broadcast Engineers

Chapter 16, Seattle, WA

As I was finalizing this column Thursday night, I happened to be listening to KOMO-FM when I heard a reporter on a cell phone describing a smoky building evacuation and as his description unfolded I realized that the problem was a powerless Fisher Plaza.  After several minutes the report abruptly ended from a dead cell phone battery.  I called Fisher CE John Barrett and he told me that a small fire associated with the primary bus feed from Seattle City light had triggered the sprinklers in their power switch room, damaging the controls for the backup generators.  No power in a building designed to be independently powered for weeks under virtually any disaster scenario.  I joined John at the Plaza for the next eighteen hours and that story is included elsewhere in this issue of the Waveguide.

June has been another busy month.

The FCC has changed the FM translator rules to permit retransmission of AM stations.  This change has been discussed for several years and a number of AM’s have received permission to use FM translators on a case-by-case basis.  This will be a real boon to those stations operating daytime only or with reduced power at night.  The rules restrict the translator’s coverage to within the stations normal daytime contour.

The demise of analog TV went better than many expected.  According to a Neilsen report, at the end of June, some 1.7 million households still could not receive the new digital television signals.  The cable and satellite companies certainly have benefited from the transition.

President Obama’s nominee to chair the FCC, Julius Genachowski has been seated.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out with the president’s plan for rural expansion of broadband services and the proposed net neutrality issues.

The Personal People Meter (PPM) controversy continues and may be one of the issues Genachowski has to address.  Meanwhile, Arbitron says the FCC “has absolutely no authority” to regulate the PPM.  Questions surrounding the new PPM are not likely to go away soon.

Comments to the FCC on higher power levels for FM IBOC are scheduled for July.  Meanwhile there was a report recently in

NAB’s RadioTech Check quoting engineering executives at CBS, Clear channel and Greater Media.  All three said they had positive experiences with their experimental elevated power.

A couple of notes on the lighter side.

I have been contemplating trading my 3G Iphone up to the new 3Gs version.  ATT will provide me with the new phone for $199 and I get to keep the old one.  I checked Ebay, and my old phone will fetch more than the $200 cost for the new one, so it seems to be a no brainer.  Apparently the foreign market is hot for the 3G because Apple is charging $500 for a new one without an ATT contract.  The new phone has a much higher data rate, and a number of new features, including a compass.  The phone also has the capability to tether a laptop to the Internet at 3G speeds.

I picked up one interesting report, yet to be verified, that there is a Broadcom Bluetooth/WiFi/FM-RDS chipset buried in the new 3Gs.  This means there may be an HD FM receiver already built in to the phone, waiting for Apple or a third party to write the application.  And why not?  Microsoft already has a HD radio in the newest Zune.

In another Iphone development, Belkin has come up with an FM transmitter to link the audio output from the Iphone to a nearby FM receiver.  The transmitter uses the Iphone built-in GPS receiver to determine the users location and use a lookup table to find a vacant frequency.

Residents near the Floyd, NY antenna for WORK-FM are complaining about RF emissions that are sending unwanted programming through computers and television sets. Many also believe their health is being affected.  A legislator is demanding FCC action.  I did a quick FCC search and found that WORK is a class A with 3kW ERP from an antenna 45 meters AGL.

Tom McGinley authored a nice article in the June 10th edition of Radio World.  “The New AM DA Proof Rules and You” http://www.rwonline.com/article/82242

SBE LUNCHEON
Thursday July 9, Noon
Hosted by BSW and Harris Broadcast

Intraplex – What’s New?

Bob Band of Harris Intraplex will be
 our presenter for our July Luncheon.
Bob will be speaking about two new
Intraplex products, HD Link, a 950 STL
system, and NetXpress LX, a
streamlined IP multiplexer.

el Eclipse Restaurant (Formerly Black Bear Inn)
14804 NE 24th St , Redmond WA 98052
Classic Mexican diner, terrific food and easy parking.

2009  SBE  Chapter 16  Picnic and Radio Tour
Saturday, July 25

Our annual chapter picnic will be held on Vashon Island this year at the historic KOMO-AM transmitter site.  The picnic will be preceeded by a grand tour of Vashons five transmitter sites that are home to seven stations.  Six of the seven stations on the island are running 50,000 watts.  The stations on the tour include KOMO, KVI, KIRO, KTTH, KPTK, KJR and KGNW.

After the ferry ride across Puget Sound, we will begin the tour at our picnic site at the KOMO facility.  Those that don’t want to go on the transmitter tour can remain at the picnic site and rest in the cool shade of the fir tree grove next to the KOMO transmitter building.

The plan is to have representatives at each transmitter site who can give us technical and historic information about the facilities.

We will provide all the food including premium hamburgers and hotdogs, salads, and cold beverages.  While there is no obligation, you may bring your favorite dessert to share.  You can bring you own chairs and tables if you like or blankets for ground cover for the more traditional picnic setting.

It is important to RSVP for this event for our food and refreshment planning. You can RSVP by email to picnic-rsvp@sbe16.org with your name and the number of guests

We will provide more details, including schedules, maps and directions on the chapter web site www.sbe16.org and the chapter remailer.  We will also provide a ferry schedule for the Seattle Fauntleroy ferry for those coming in from the Seattle area and North, and a schedule for the Tacoma Point Defiance ferry for those coming in from Tacoma and South.

This year’s picnic and tour is being sponsored by our SBE friends at BSW, the professional sales folks that have been providing decades of real-world broadcast and studio engineering experience and expert help with our broadcast equipment purchases.  www.bswusa.com

Report on the meeting of the Chapter 16 Board
Wednesday June 10, 2009
Offices of Hatfield and Dawson  

Jim Dalke called the meeting to order.  Present were Steve Lockwood, Jim Dalke, Clay Freinwald, Tom McGinley, and Terry Spring.
The Summer Picnic was discussed.  It will be held Saturday, July 25th, at the KOMO-AM transmitter site.  KOMO is close to the ferry dock, so it will be the base of operations.  Those that are interested can do the transmitter site tour and those that aren't can hang out there.  The Chapter will furnish hamburgers, hot dogs, and salad.  Participants can bring a desert and beverage.  BSW is sponsoring the picnic.  They can bring a banner if they want.  The Portland chapter is also invited.  A notice will be sent out on the remailer with a request for RSVP's.  Jim will be checking the site out.  We will probably rent a portable toilet.  Steve will be contacting the engineers at the different transmitter sites. 
There will be no August meeting.  September will be Frank Grundstein of Logitek.  In October, the Taste Of NAB Roadshow is in the planning stages.
The meeting was adjourned.
Terry Spring
"Acting" Secretary

**

Report of the Chapter 16 Luncheon
El Eclipse Restaurant
Bellevue, WA 
Thursday June 11, 2009

The meeting was called to order by Jim Dalke.

The picnic was discussed.  It will happen Saturday, July 25th, at the KOMO-AM transmitter site on Vashon Island.  it will be sponsored by BSW.  Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and a salad will be provided.  Invitations will be sent out on the remailer.  The Portland chapter has also been invited.  Please RSVP.

We will be having a membership meeting in July, sponsored by Harris.

Our program speaker was Lyle Johnson on Digital Signal Processing.

Terry Spring
"Acting" Secretary

June Luncheon Speaker - Lyle Johnson

Jim Dalke, CPBE AMD

A small electrical fire brought down two TV and four radio stations at 11:25 Thursday evening at Fisher Plaza.  The loss of power also disrupted numerous web sites with servers collocated in the Plaza building.  The broadcast stations that went dark were Fisher’s KOMO-TV, KUNS-TV, KOMO-AM, KOMO-FM, KVI-AM, and KPLZ-FM.  Major web sites went down including Microsoft’s Bing Travel, Seattle’s Mars Hill Church and Authorize.net, a credit card verification Service.  There were also reports of interruptions to Verizon’s DSL service in the Pacific Northwest.
 
The small electrical fire apparently ignited as a result of fault in the 5,000 amp, 3 phase 480 volt bus connecting a Seattle City Light transformer vault and the Plaza electrical switch room, located on the second level parking garage under the Plaza building.  All power in the building was lost as a result.  The resulting electrical arc vaporized the copper feed bus and the heat triggered the sprinkling system in the electrical room.  The water from the sprinklers damaged the switching equipment that is designed to transfer power to the building generators when the incoming primary power fails.  There was a foot of water in the switch room before the Seattle Fire Department could make sure the fire was out and turn off the sprinkler system.

There are two 2.5 megawatt generators and a 1.5 megawatt generator near the electrical switch room set up to automatically go online and power the building in case the primary Seattle City Light power should fail.  However only one of the generators was able to come on line, providing backup power to a limited part of the building.  This left all of the broadcast facility and most of the web servers without power.

 
Attempts were made to connect the operating generators to the building’s multiple riser feeds by bypassing the damaged switch equipment, but because of the damage to the wiring system, it became impossible to accomplish.  Two portable 2.5 megawatt generators were brought in Friday afternoon and parked next to the Plaza building.  Friday evening, the big generators were connected to the buildings riser feeds, and power was restored to the Plaza.  All of the stations were back on the air with normal broadcasts late Friday evening.

Because of the damage to the electrical switch room equipment, it is likely the damaged equipment will have to be replaced.  The building cannot have power reconnected to the Seattle City Light grid until the new switch equipment is installed and operational, so the big generators may be providing the building power for a few weeks or more.

All of the stations originate and switch programming in the building. When the power failed in the middle of the 11 o’clock TV news all of the stations went off the air.  Then smoke from the electrical fire in the underground parking garage began to circulate through the building prompting the fire department to order a complete evacuation. 

When the smoke literally cleared and it became apparent it would more than a few hours before the power could be restored, the staff began to get what equipment they needed from the studio and moved to the KOMO-TV transmitter site a mile North of the Plaza on Seattle’s Queen Ann hill.  The TV tower has microwave STL links to all of the broadcast transmitters except KOMO-FM.

The KOMO-TV staff moved their remote truck and to Kerry Park near the TV transmitter on Queen Ann Hill and were back on the air.  Normally, the station takes their network feed from the satellite dish on the Plaza building, so the engineers arranged a network feed from off air programming from KATU-TV, a Fisher sister station in Portland.  Setting up a temporary studio near the transmitter building would have been a simple task in the analog TV days when you could plug a camera directly into the TV transmitter.  Using a digital camera into a digital switcher and a digital transmitter sometime requires sophisticated timing.  Without the automation at the studio to do the switching and commercial insertion was a challenging task as well.  But they went on the air live at daybreak with the Seattle cityscape and the landmark Space Needle in the background.  There were no local commercials and occasionally the Portland KATU commercials came along with the ABC network feeds.  There were obvious lip sync problems on the temporary program feed from Portland.

KOMO AM set up a small mixer on a card table in the TV transmitter building and improvised all their news format with a temporary network feed for national news and local traffic reports.  They had no commercials to broadcast, so they thanked their sponsors regularly for support for commercial free radio for the day.

KPLZ-FM set up a similar temporary studio at the TV transmitter.  As he was leaving the dark Plaza building, one of the KPLZ staff was overhead saying he would go on the air with his Ipod if necessary.

With limited engineering personnel and resources exhausted, KVI-AM and KUNS-TV remained off the air for the day, returning to the air Saturday morning.

 Fisher began planning the Plaza in the 90’s and finished construction in 2002.  It was designed as a state-of-the-art high-tech building as a hub for the Fisher broadcast stations as well a communications hub for the high-tech data industry.  It is reported to be one of the most expensive buildings per square foot in Seattle.

The Plaza facility was designed to maintain operations under any natural or man-caused disaster.  It has generators to maintain power for weeks if needed.  The buildings infrastructure was designed and constructed to survive an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.

Fisher Plaza

Greetings All,
I know that we have a large number of “Certified Broadcast Technologist’s” in our chapter that have been working for more then 5 years. I would like to remind you that you are qualified to apply for the ‘next-step’ in your professional development. Consider the challenge & rewards of the “Certified Broadcast Radio and/or Television Engineer”.

Certified Broadcast Radio Engineer (CBRE)
and Certified Broadcast Television Engineer (CBTE)

The candidate for Certified Broadcast Radio Engineer or Certified Broadcast Television Engineer must have five (5) years of suitable experience in broadcast engineering or related technology and must achieve a passing grade on the proficiency examination.
Substitution of broadcast engineering or education in related technologies, for experience may be made as follows:

• A state registered Professional Engineer's license will count as four (4) years experience for all levels of certification.
• A Bachelor Degree will count as four (4) years experience.
• An Associate Degree will count as two (2) years experience.
• Years of related accredited education, i.e., military, correspondence, etc. can be substituted, year for year, up to four (4) years.
• Applicant will not receive dual credit for concurrent years of experience and education.

The Certified Broadcast Engineer Exam:  Exams consist of 50 multiple-choice questions relating to either AM/FM or TV, covering the equivalent of five (5) years experience. Each exam is computer-selected from a pool of questions, and every exam is unique. Each correct answer will be worth two (2) points. The Broadcast Engineer multiple choice examination will consist of questions on:

• safety
• problems
• operating practices
• theory

NOTE: The Certified Broadcast Engineer certificate will carry space for a special designation in either AM/FM or TV. The candidate may take the Broadcast Engineer examination by meeting the experience requirement either in AM/FM or TV or in both fields of specialization. Satisfactory passing of one or more of these classes will permit the person to attach the respective designation(s) to the certificate. Designations will be by examination only.

Dates to Remember in 2009
Certification Application Deadlines:

September 18, 2009    @Local Chapters        Test Date: November 6-16, 2009
December 31,2009      @Local Chapters        Test Date: February 5-15, 2010
March 26, 2010           @NAB                        Test Date: April 13, 2010
April 16, 2010             @Local Chapters        Test Date: June 4-14, 2010
June 4, 2010                @Local Chapters        Test Date: August 6-16,2010
September 17,2010     @Local Chapters        Test Date: November 5-15,2010

     CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVES
   To raise the professional status of broadcast engineers by providing standards of professional competence in the practice of broadcasting engineering. To recognize those individuals who, by fulfilling the requirements of knowledge, experience, responsibility, and conduct, meet those standards of professional competence. To encourage broadcast engineers to continue their professional development.

For more information and/or application forms please feel free to contact Michael Scott, CPBE.
E-Mail okscott@halcyon.com ; Voice (253) 680-7756 ; FAX (253) 845-5882

Clay’s Corner for July 2009

Before I get into my normal column fodder – Don’t forget to mark your calendars for July 25th annual SBE Chapter 16 picnic.   This year we will, once again, travel to Vashon Island.  The format is a bit different.  Our picnic location will be at KOMO-AM on the North Part of the Island (last year we were at KIRO).  For those that could not make it last year, we had a great time touring the historic transmitter sites on Vashon and Maury Island, come this year and see for yourself.  

Well, we did it!.    Except for some lower powered stations, cable, a bunch of old TV sets and that old VCR, NTSC is becoming scarce.   Looking back at the transition I have some thoughts –

1- I think our industry could have done a much better job of explaining just what was going to happen.  IMHO, the average Joe was led to believe that on June 12th his favorite TV station would go off and, at the same moment, something new would be turned on to replace it.   How often did you see anything that promoted the fact that you could tune to channel XX and see KRUD-TV in HD?   Where were the promo’s that explained that Digital/HD TV was on the air right now, waiting for you to see, and that what was happening was that the old Analog channel was going away?  Where was the push to get viewers to switch prior to the analog going off?   Had we done that
a great deal of confusion would have been averted.   This would have encouraged viewers to tune into the new digital station as soon as possible rather than waiting for the last minute.

2- The concept of virtual vs. RF channels has rarely been explained.  Viewers have had little information beyond putting their receiver in scan mode to find the channels.   This was all based on the notion that everyone had a set with that feature.

3 – Those stations that have elected to stay with their VHF channels were apparently focused on free-space path loss, or existing hardware, and where ignoring what’s been known to many radio broadcasters and, especially, 2-way and cellular engineers about building penetration.  FM broadcasters that have implemented HD Radio can tell you a lot about issues of building penetration with their comparatively low power HD Signals compared to their FM’s.   This is the one of the major arguments for a power increase for HD Radio. 

Here's one for those of you that are into RF - Wonder what kind of match this CB'er has after mounting his TV antenna on his antenna?

  Land Mobile types have long known that UHF is superior to VHF when it comes to getting a signal into a building. Another impact is the higher noise floor on VHF compared to UHF.   Now the news is filled with issues where stations that are now digital on VHF channels are going to the FCC asking for more power etc.  Duh!   What happened here?  Was even the FCC surprised by this?

4- I recall recently driving down a local street and noting a UHF bow-tie array on a roof top.  Obviously this is great for those stations on UHF channels, but what about those that are VHF?   Why is it that the average bear ‘assumes’ that the digital stations are – all- now on UHF?   What do you want to bet that the best source of information for these matters is the kid behind the counter at the local national electronics store...Who has batteries for everything?   Just how much education was done in this area?

5 – The cable companies did a great job of telling viewers that they had nothing to fear, just sign up for cable and your worries are over.   I saw very little from local stations that refuted this by explaining how you could, perhaps, make a one time investment in an antenna and avoid the ever increasing cable rates.  Even today as those bills start to come in, I feel that all too many feel that this is the only way to continue to receive local channels.   You would, occasionally, hear the term – Free TV –, however, in my view, not near enough, certainly to the degree that Joe Sixpack would be able to comprehend it.

Looking at Radio – They are suffering from a similar problem with their digital system.  There is minimal effort being made to explain to Joe Average, just what HD Radio is, how it works and why it’s good for him.  Radio has more difficulty because there is no cut-off date when the existing system will go away.  Beyond some produced spots for HD Radio run on some stations and a display at Costco…Hardly any effort is being made to explain what this HD-R thing is all about.   Go to your local retailer and ask about HD Radio and you will quickly find the famous ‘deer in the headlights’.   Satellite Radio, on the other hand, has done a great job of education…Even though they are struggling financially, at least Joe Average knows what it is !

If you look back at the early days of radio or TV you find that broadcasters were truly interested in explaining what this new ‘fandangled’ gizmo was all about and how to put it to use.   Not any more.    We are all wrapped up in the latest little wireless devices with plenty of retailers eager to explain how it all works.   There are those that say that terrestrial radio and TV are dead and are going the way of the newspaper.   In my view, we need only to look in the nearest mirror to find one of the major contributing factors.   Lets face it folks, we have grown complacent and perhaps just plain lazy.   We have this ‘field of dreams’ mindset that is very likely contributing to our own demise.

Wow….I feel better now….So, what else is new ?

GE says that it has discovered a way to put 100 DVD’s on a single disc using a system called holographic storage that’s some 500 gigabytes of data.  Compare that to Blu-Ray than can store 25 gigs or a standard DVD that does 5!.    Are you old enough to have working on GE broadcast equipment?

The DNR has finally repaired some of the wash outs on the road to West Tiger from last winters storms.   A couple of them exposed the power line that serves the ATC site, home of 6 FM’s and 4 TV stations. 

If you are into resolving TV reception issues, the FCC has a very cool tool that you should be using – Check out  - http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

So what about low-power TV stations?  Now that the big guys are all digital, what are the low powered stations to do?  Where is their digital channel so they can migrate to the new scheme?  

On the subject of TV – In the event you have not noticed it, with all the fake channels, there are a lot of call letters now appended with dash-DT.  

There continues to be a movement to prohibit the use of wireless devices in vehicles across the country.  Recently Oregon was among them giving rise to the fear that Amateur (Ham) Radio operation in vehicles might be impacted.  This was met with considerable opposition by the Amateurs in our neighboring state, as you might imagine.
By the time you read this, KPLU will be broadcasting from their new studios in Parkland.  The new building housing the station and other university offices is named after the stations former manager, Martin Neeb.    Working on the project have been Chief Engineer, Lowell Kiesow with assistance from Nick Winter and Greg Ristau.  Meanwhile the FCC has granted CP’s for two more stations for KPLU’s growing network in Manson (near Lake Chelan) and Sedro Wooley.

Ken, Bill and the Clear Channel crew have been working on the integration of 106.1 to the cluster.  

Welcome to West Tiger CC-R

We have all become familiar with the Internet features known as Facebook and Twitter.  With the recent situation in Iran we have come to more appreciate the broadcast application of these vehicles.    Broadcast equipment makers are integrating these as well.  For example, BE recently announced a Twitter ‘plug in’ to their TRE system.   TRE, otherwise known as The Radio Experience, was developed by Allen Hartle right here in Seattle.

To underscore how the Internet is changing things – CC Crane, long time producer of radio receivers, has recently announced a new product….An Internet Radio.   Recognizing the fact that there are some 12,000 Internet Radio stations ‘on the air’…Manufacturers are making devices that are easy to use to ‘pick-up’ these stations without the need for a computer.   Arbitron recognizes the growth in this area as well and is providing stations with encoders for those ‘streams’.  New research has shown that 40% of radio listeners listen to online streams at least once a week.  (this is huge)
 In the most recent radio-ratings, I noted that one Seattle station actually has ‘numbers’ from listeners to that stations stream.   On a larger scale, we have a couple of stations whose streams are consistently highly rated.  KING-FM and KPLU.

On the TV side – It was announced that Fisher (Owners of KOMO and KUNS here) have entered into an agreement with WorldNow which will provide it’s online video platform for all of Fishers radio and TV stations.

Proving that the FCC has had more to do than DTV conversion, the Commission is taking WQYK-FM in Tampa to court over an un-paid $10,000 fine.   What makes this of interest to Engineers is that the fine, originally $25,000 in 2004,  was for failing to advise visitors that they were being exposed to more than the maximum allowable NIER.

Apple has released a new device with an un-advertized FM receiver built in.  Apparently someone peeked ‘under the hood’ and discovered the additional circuitry. 

 In last months column I noted the new Microsoft Zune with an HD Receiver built in.   This prompted a note from former Seattle radio chief, Doug Irwin, who is now a radio chief in NYC –

Doug points out a factor that we don’t have in this area.  On much of the other coast there are no Class C FM’s but rather B’s and A’s with co and adjacent channel spacing that we don’t have to deal with and MUCH lower power levels.   The major FM’s in the Big Apple are typically Class B’s operating with 6 Kw at 415 Meters AAT.   Compare that with the typical Tiger Mountain FM that operates with 68 Kw at 707 Meters.   With HD Radio’s power 20db below the FM, this means that the HD power in NYC is about 60 watts compared to 680 watts at West Tiger.   This helps with understanding Doug’s concerns with the effectiveness of the new Zune HD Radio receiver.  It also helps with understanding why so many are pushing for higher power levels for the digital transmitter.

Here’s a new twist on the dangers of RF Radiation. – Dr Ollie Johansson in Stockholm is saying that RF energy has more than a thermal impact on humans.  In a recent paper the doctor expresses concerns for workers setting in front of computer monitors.  (apparently referencing CRT based displays) He goes on to studies pointing to a correlation between long term exposure to magnetic fields and microwaves and cancer.

Results from Arbitrons PPM continue to shake up the local Radio scene.  In some cases stations that were previously rated low with the old diary system instantly becoming higher rated.   As we found out at our local Chapter meeting with Arbitron, the method of data gathering is considerably changed.   One change is that for the first time we have a means of determining who is listening to what in a vehicle.  Car radios, thanks to their push-button operation, have long been a place where listeners can instantly change stations if they hear something they don’t like.   With the PPM, monitoring this activity is now possible and we are likely seeing many of these changes as a result.  Radio listening is still big in vehicles.  

The big ENG transition has reached the half-way point with about 50% of the nations TV stations switching to the new band-plan and related digital equipment.  This all part of the nationwide Sprint-Nextel deal.

One little talked about item was recent rendered useless – the little radio that would receive AM and FM Broadcast, perhaps shortwave – AND – TV Audio.  These were popular with those that wanted to keep up with the latest soaps or other programming by listening to just the audio.   Something else for the dust-bin of history.  

Another item for the yard-sale.  That little portable TV set.  Many folks with RV’s or in tornado or hurricane areas had these on hand.   Now useless.

The FCC is supposed to release new rules governing the use of FM translators by AM stations in early July.

From the ‘just wondering’ dept.   What are stations going to do with all those analog transmitters that can no longer be used?    Is there a market, or are they going to the dump?

Amateurs from around the country have been eagerly connecting to abandoned channel 2 arrays with their 6 meter equipment.   Understand that this was great fun recently in Portland.   Likely those big tower top antennas will soon be on the ground and antennas for the ‘new channel’ will be installed.

Something you always worry about – The fellow mowing the field around a guyed tower.  Recently in St Joseph, Mo the farmer, mowing hay, caught one of the guys and down went one of the towers of the stations 4 tower array.  Ooops

Are you ready for the OLED ?   Organic Light Emitting Diode displays are about to come on the scene.

Another end of an era item – Kodak announced that it is retiring Kodachrome.

Happy Birthday FCC – The Commish (as I love to call it) was born back on June 19th, 1934, 75 years ago….and NO I don’t remember the event.  

Looks like the new leadership of the Commish will include – Chairman Julius Genachowski and current commissioner Robert McDowell.  Rounding out the FCC is Meredity Attwell Baker and Mitgnon Clyburn.

We are saddened with the new of the passing of Ed McMahon, long time sidekick for Johnny Carson.   It’s been reported that another broadcast legend, Walter Cronkite, is in very poor, failing, health.

So what’s up with the economy ?

It seems most of the pundits now are saying that we have reached bottom and things are looking up.   Some of the indicators indeed seem to be pointing in that direction.  A recent survey disclosed that most economists believe the recession will end in the 3rd quarter, this year.   However the rebound will be slow with high unemployment thru next year.

 But where does that put us in this industry?   The following are some things I’ve noted –

The RAB recently reported that Q1 local revenue was 26% lower than the previous year and national was down 27%.  However – Digital revenue were up by 13%.   Radio is discovering that Broadcasting means more than just what comes out of their transmitters.

ESPN has recently announced layoffs – Just as their new Seattle affiliate, KIRO gets started. 

Not sure if it’s a sign of the times or not, but in WDC, a local newspaper has teamed with a local station to provide news.

Incoming CBS Corp. CFO Joseph Ianniello tells Bloomberg that he'll be further reducing costs at the media giant in the "difficult revenue environment."

TV stations across the country are looking for ways to reduce costs.  Recently I wrote about stations that now share helicopters, this past month I have read about stations that are sharing news operations, in one case, there is a call for stations to take central-casting to a new level by combining master control functions.   How far this will go will likely depend on how long the present economic situation continues and the nature of what’s on the other side.   I suspect that we are looking at what’s been called a ‘new normal’ that will forever alter broadcasting as we knew it.

Tribune owns two TV stations here and it’s in bankruptcy.  Last word is that the company is trying to work out a plan with its creditors.  Presently the banks are holding a reported $8.2 billion in debt.

One station has come up with a way to increase the bottom line, in this case, moving beyond what we call NTR.   They have begun to sell products.   Combining methods used by QVC or HSN with the reach of a broadcast station.   Seems like a retro idea to me as many early day radio stations were owned by retailers for just that purpose.

Can’t explain why, but, reportedly,  radio revenue in Canada is up 5% over last year.

Directly related to the economic situation and the cut-back in state spending, John Mangan who has been the instructor at the Clover Park Technical College radio program, KVTI for the past 27.5 years officially announced that he has been cut back to part time through September as the college officially puts the program on hold.   No word on what will happen to the 90.9 FM station, it is presumed that it will go off the air.   I recall vividly this station as a little operation in the electronics building behind Clover Park High School with the then call letters of KCPS.   The station was later moved to the old Navy supply base in Lakewood and combined with the districts growing vocational offerings.  It’s call letters were changed to KPEC to match that of their Channel 56 TV operation.   It is from here that the broadcasting bug bit me.   The school district later picked up the then dark Channel 13 and changed the call to KCPQ.  The Radio became KVTI.  Most recently the vocation operation became part of the state.   End of an era, with a ton of personal memories.

I received a number of comments from last months column dealing with words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently.   This month I will leave you with some more fun stuff - .

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.' 
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?   At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the engineer to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP  trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. 

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.  And my favorite – If we are a Ham, we throw UP and antenna.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP  almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP .. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...Provided NOAA does not mess UP the forecast.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. I could  could go on and on, but I'll wrap it  UP, for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP!   Hope to do this again next month….Provided I’m UP to it.

Clay, CPBE, K7CR