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What’s in your tool bag? Let’s start a list
Pretty towers Readers share more great pix of radio broadcast structures
Stay on the FCC’s good side
Compliance tips from ABIP inspectors and broadcast attorneys
He brings laser focus to radio’s digital display Alan Jurison is the recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award.
Photo by Jim Peck
Vol. 48 No. 1 | January 3 2024 www.radioworld.com FOLLOW US www.twitter.com/radioworld_news www.facebook.com/RadioWorldMagazine www.linkedin.com/company/radio-world-futureplc CONTENT Managing Director, Content & Editor in Chief Paul J. McLane, paul.mclane@futurenet.com, 845-414-6105 Assistant Editor & SmartBrief Editor Elle Kehres, elle.kehres@futurenet.com Technical Advisors W.C. “Cris” Alexander, Thomas R. McGinley, Doug Irwin Contributors: David Bialik, John Bisset, Edwin Bukont, James Careless, Ken Deutsch, Mark Durenberger, Charles Fitch, Donna Halper, Alan Jurison, Paul Kaminski, John Kean, Nick Langan, Larry Langford, Mark Lapidus, Michael LeClair, Frank McCoy, Jim Peck, Mark Persons, Stephen M. Poole, James O’Neal, T. Carter Ross, John Schneider, Gregg Skall, Dan Slentz, Dennis Sloatman, Randy Stine, Tom Vernon, Jennifer Waits, Steve Walker, Chris Wygal Production Manager Nicole Schilling Group Art Director Nicole Cobban Senior Design Director Lisa McIntosh Senior Art Editor Will Shum Art Editor Cliff Newman ADVERTISING SALES Senior Business Director & Publisher, Radio World John Casey, john.casey@futurenet.com, 845-678-3839 Publisher, Radio World International Raffaella Calabrese, raffaella.calabrese@futurenet.com, +39-320-891-1938 SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.radioworld.com and click on Subscribe, email futureplc@computerfulfillment.com, call 888-266-5828, or write P.O. Box 1051, Lowell, MA 01853. LICENSING/REPRINTS/PERMISSIONS Radio World is available for licensing. Contact the Licensing team to discuss partnership opportunities. Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw licensing@futurenet.com MANAGEMENT SVP Wealth, B2B and Events Sarah Rees Managing Director, B2B Tech & Entertainment Brands Carmel King Managing Vice President of Sales, B2B Tech Adam Goldstein Head of Production US & UK Mark Constance Head of Design Rodney Dive FUTURE US, INC. Future US LLC, 130 West 42nd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10036
All contents ©Future US, Inc. or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number 02008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein. If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/ or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future n or its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions. Radio World (ISSN: 0274-8541) is published bi-weekly with additional issues in February, April, June, August, October and December by Future US, Inc., 130 West 42nd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10036. Phone: (978) 667-0352. Periodicals postage rates are paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Radio World, PO Box 1051, Lowell, MA 01853. Please recycle. We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from responsibly managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. The paper in this magazine was sourced and produced from sustainable managed forests, conforming to strict environmental and socioeconomic standards. The manufacturing paper mill and printer hold full FSC and PEFC certification and accreditation.
20 years of excellence A sampling of quotes from our past award recipients
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t’s my privilege in this issue to introduce you to the newest recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award on page 18. He is our 20th recipient. Here are a few quotes from past honorees that stand out to me.
Andy Andresen, 2004 — “I have two market managers, nine PDs, and more DJs and sales reps than I can keep track of. … Engineering is a service, and all the people Editor in Chief just mentioned are our clients. I don’t believe technology will be our biggest challenge; technology is what we do. Time management won’t challenge us either; we’ll just invent a better way to manage it. Our real challenge is to see the forest for the trees, and like any good business spend some time with our clients.”
Paul McLane
Mike Starling, 2005, on advancing in your career — “If you’re really interested in it and you love it, don’t take no for an answer. Just keep knocking on doors until someone gives you a break.” John Lyons, 2006, on remembering 9/11 — “As I’m sitting here in my office [at 4 Times Square] looking down at a void in lower Manhattan, it is still striking. This tower went on the air just about three years ago; stations have moved over to Empire, some still have backups at Alpine and various other places; but still there is no building downtown. It’s difficult.” Clay Freinwald, 2007 — “Broadcasters are no longer the kingpin of the public warning thing; we’re relegated to being another tool in the toolbox. Which is good.” Jeff Littlejohn, 2008, on how radio should respond to the proliferation of platforms — “We need to get beyond the unique channel we have for distribution; we need to make sure we follow our listeners.” Gary Kline, 2009, on being ambitious — “My dad always told me ‘You can be an engineer; but maybe you should be the guy who tells engineers what to do. You should have more of a business and management understanding.’” Milford Smith, 2010 — “As much as other things may have been more fun — stuff we did in the field and pulled off involving a facility improvement or allocation — my work with the National Radio Systems Committee is the most important.” Barry Thomas, 2011, recalling the scent of a small disco-formatted AM where he worked as a teenager — “There was this weird mix of 1940s dust from the Harris boards and Gates transcription turntables, kicked-up dust and this slight tinge of nicotine. It felt huge.” Paul Brenner, 2012, on radio’s digital strategies — “The industry has a couple more years to make a decision in which direction to go aggressively. If that doesn’t happen, I’m not sure where we will be in five years.”
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THIS ISSUE NEWS 3
From the Editor
5
Stay on the FCC’s good side
FEATURES 10
What’s in your toolbag? Let’s start a list
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Start planning those spring site projects
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For Jurison, data is the face of radio
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Six contest ideas to start the new year
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WorldDAB president plants her flag
OPINION 29
Readers’ Forum
From the Editor Marty Garrison, 2013, on managing the move of NPR’s headquarters — “I love this job. I love the company. … And I just happen to love doing these buildings.” Wayne Pecena, 2014 — “I think the next tech shift is going to be the radio station in the cloud … I can see a time when what we think of as the radio station is nothing more than a sales office, and audio production is done on something as simple as an iPad or some kind of computer device.” David Layer, 2015 — “I’m really a lucky man to have landed this job that allows me to pursue all these things I enjoy: engineering, writing, working with people.” Mike Cooney, 2016–17 — “Caroline [Beasley] and I both believe very much that our future is digital; and if anything, that’s one of our biggest priorities in the future, developing a digital strategy both from third-party products, streaming, websites, podcasting, all those other products.” Larry Wilkins, 2017–18, about his wife — “Cathy has been extremely supportive of my career over our 31 years of marriage ... It is not easy being married to a broadcast engineer, as transmitters quite often pick the worst times to fail.” Russ Mundschenk, 2018–19, on the influence of his father Manuel “Munchie” Mundschenk, who ran a hi-fi cabinet shop — “Even
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when I was three or four, I had a soldering iron in my hand. I grew up around hi-fi. I had my own little radio station set up.” Dave Kolesar, 2019–20, on putting all-digital AM on WWFD — “The HD3 station on WTOP, which had been, by corporate edict, airing the Mormon Channel, went silent. Joel Oxley, the GM of WTOP, suggested that we put my own internet radio station on the HD3, and that’s how ‘The Gamut’ was born. Eventually it got put on 820 [kHz], so having control of that station, it became easy for me to suggest digital on it.” Jason Ornellas, 2020–21 — “I don’t like the answer ‘It can’t be done.’ Well, let’s figure that out. Everything can be done. Someone has done something before, so let’s start peeling back the layers of what’s stopping it, and let’s move forward.” Roz Clark, 2021–22 — “I still feel like a kid in this business. … If you’re interested in solving puzzles or in having a different experience every day, I don’t think there’s any business more diverse than broadcasting — audio, RF, power distribution and computer networks, it goes on and on.” Steve Shultis, 2023 — “I am kind of biased by being in New York. Market Number 1’s engineers all run a pretty tight ship. We are all peers and listen to each other and push each other. If you want to get better, you want to compete against the best. We have the best of everything in New York City.” Congratulations to all of our recipients over two decades.
Radio Regulation
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invincible_bulldog/Getty Images
Writer
Stay on the FCC’s good side ABIP inspectors and radio attorneys talk about common enforcement triggers
Randy J. Stine Radio World’s lead news contributor wrote about Mark Bohach and FM translators in December.
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t’s helpful to review FCC enforcement actions for a glimpse of the types of regulatory issues and compliance problems the commission focuses on. Yet there is always nuance to what might attract its attention. Broadcast attorneys and Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program inspectors talked to Radio World about common missteps they see radio broadcasters make. Unsurprisingly given their resources, smaller broadcasters seem more prone to slipups than large group owners. But much also depends on a given company’s awareness of the requirements and the importance it puts on compliance. Certain areas tend to draw the attention of the Enforcement and Media Bureaus. For instance, now that every station’s public file is accessible online, the FCC can monitor compliance far more easily. “The FCC has been paying close attention to quarterly file uploads to the Online Public Inspection File and looking closer at EEO reports,” one regulatory insider said.
Station logs that list EAS activations, tower light checks and RF transmission parameters require weekly review by a radio station’s chief operator, said Blake Thompson, president of BET Broadcast Engineering, who performs most of the ABIP inspections in the states of Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. He recommends logging transmitter power daily, or at least weekly with a newer unit, to demonstrate proper operation. Station logs may be kept manually or electronically, but having electronic records doesn’t absolve the chief engineer of reviewing and signing a log, according to FCC rules. Stations also must keep an FCC application page on their website and a link to their public file. While these are not part of the ABIP checklist, they’re a common omission. Stations also must provide specific contact information on their websites for a station representative who can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the public files, Thompson said.
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Radio Regulation And make sure the current copy of the EAS handbook, published by the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, is filled out at the station’s control point. The 2023 edition was published in April.
Politics, TBAs and fees
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Frank Montero, co-managing partner at the law firm Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, said, “There have been a large number of consent decrees focused on the same issues, like public file and political file violations. EEO violations have been a focus as well.” Because we are entering a major political year in 2024, Montero said stations should be focused on political broadcasting rule compliance, including lowest unit rate, equal time and political file compliance. “I recommend to my clients that they designate an employee to monitor their station’s local public file to ensure compliance,” he said. (For a relevant article by attorney Gregg Skall, visit radioworld.com and search “Skall political.”) The year 2023 was a biennial ownership report year, Montero continued. “We always find corporate licensees — especially nonprofits with large boards — that have had an incremental transfer of control over the past few years without ever filing a transfer application.” Biennial ownership reports were due Dec. 1 but if you are late, file the report anyway, Montero said. Another potential pothole for broadcasters is improper use of FM translators and understanding the “dos and don’ts,” he said. Further, if your station is in a time brokerage agreement, make sure you have a properly drafted agreement and are aware of what the FCC allows in such cases. Keep the finances and station control separate from the broker, according to another person familiar with the relevant regs and enforcement. Also, commercial stations need to make sure they are current with their annual regulatory fees. “Being in arrears is certainly a red flag, which can block the processing of applications,” that person said, noting that there have been several recent revocations of broadcast licenses over regulatory fees that went unpaid over several years.
Alerting updates Larry Wilkins, director of engineering services at the Alabama Broadcasters Association, says some stations fail to keep their EAS infrastructure up to date.
Photo by Rick Grzebik
Above Frank Maynard, left, talks with Bill Keith, station manager of WSDP(FM), Plymouth, Mich.
Share Your Tips
What other issues might trip the FCC’s wire? Send a letter to the editor to radioworld@ futurenet.com.
“This includes ensuring they are operating with the correct software and security certificate, monitoring the correct sources and verifying the quality and levels of these sources,” he said. As part of that compliance, stations are required weekly to review the station log, including all required EAS activations and correcting any observed issues, he said. Wilkins, the ABIP inspector for Alabama, reminds stations to pay attention to maintenance at the transmitter site — “things like improper fencing around an AM tower, operating at the licensed transmitter power output, tower light monitoring, and maintaining an operational remotecontrol system.” Frank Maynard, president of technical services firm Maynard and Associates, says missing EEO reports are a common problem, particularly at license renewal time. “The political file portion of the online public inspection file needs to be kept current, with new information uploaded the same day if possible,” he said. Because the FCC no longer requires routine logging of transmitter readings, stations may be under the impression that a station log is not required, but that’s not the case. “I advise stations to keep an accurate station log in one place,” Maynard said. “Just a single sheet of paper weekly can be sufficient, noting EAS tests sent and received, daily and quarterly tower lighting checks, remote meter calibrations and power output readings. And it needs to be checked and signed by the chief operator weekly,” he said. Maynard, who performs inspections for the ABIP program administered by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, said remote meter calibrations and power
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Radio Regulation
Below Blake Thompson
output checks are sometimes forgotten. He recommends establishing a regular schedule. “‘As often as necessary’ does not mean you don’t have to do it. And a basic piece of information, the indirect method efficiency factor, is often unknown or hard to find. It should be readily available. I suggest posting it on the transmitter and at the control point,” he said. On occasion, the geographical coordinates listed on the license don’t agree with the actual coordinates, which can be checked using the satellite view on Google Maps. “Many deficiencies are simply a matter of good engineering practice, such as keeping documentation and
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logs at the transmitter site and establishing regular cleaning and maintenance procedures,” Maynard said. Radio operators continue to receive warnings (and draw fines) for failing to “timely” file various required documents. This is often the case for the Issues and Programs list, due each quarter by the 10th day of the following month, according to one expert. A station might also encounter a complaint filed by another broadcaster. When one is received, the commission may send an inspector to the station, although our observers say this is less common now given the closure of many FCC field offices. If you do run afoul of the FCC, the commission can initiate the investigative process by issuing a letter of inquiry — a series of questions regarding the alleged infraction — or it might jump directly to a notice of apparent liability or a notice of violation, which will cite the problem and give the licenseholder 30 days to pay a fine or explain its side of the case. A broadcaster can then request a reduction or elimination of the proposed fine, which the FCC calls a forfeiture. Our experts recommend being active with your state broadcast association, which can provide resources and notices of filing deadlines. They urge stations to take advantage of the ABIP programs, which are administered by the state associations. Stations that participate in the alternative program receive a three-year exemption from routine FCC technical inspections. That exemption does not apply to inspection of the online public file, online political file or filings necessary to comply with EEO requirements. The ABA Engineering Academy’s YouTube page has several videos that walk viewers through an ABIP inspection.
Enforcement Sampler Pirate radio enforcement has received ample news coverage in recent years, but there are numerous other examples of recent actions that give a sense of what the commission has been looking for, covering administration, technical operation and programming. In November an AM station in Texas lost its license for failure to pay about $36,000 in regulatory fees that accumulated over a decade. In August the Media Bureau said a Louisiana licensee could be liable for a forfeiture of $12,500 after concerns were raised about the truthfulness of statements
made during licensing and construction; the station allegedly swapped antenna type and mounted the antenna at the wrong height without authorization. In March the FCC yanked three FM translator licenses in Arizona and Nevada after the licensee was unable to prove operational status of the facilities. A Washington state broadcaster was apparently liable for $20,000 for unauthorized operations of an FM translator and making false certifications in an application with the intent to deceive the commission. An AM owner in Iowa faced an $11,000 fine in a case involving its online
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
public inspection file and its transmission power levels. The Enforcement Bureau proposed a $25,000 fine saying a broadcast owner failed to upload annual EEO reports to their online public files, failed to upload their EEO reports to the web and failed to “broadly recruit” for certain vacancies, analyze their EEO programs or maintain recruitment records. Last spring a Colorado low-power FM was assessed a $15,000 fine for airing commercials. In late 2022 the Media Bureau issued a $20,000 forfeiture to a California licensee for operating its AM station at the wrong power at night.
Workbench
John Bisset CPBE The author is in his 33rd year of writing Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.
Send your tips
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Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@ gmail.com.
What’s in your tool bag? Let’s start a list For that matter, what’s your favorite tool bag?
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Above What’s in your bag? This one is full of crimpers.
hat kind of engineering-related tools did the recent holidays bring you? Broadcast engineer Archie Stulc wrote in to emphasize the importance of carrying your own tools and of choosing tools of decent quality. “It’s just so much better to have what you need with you, and to know that what you have will work for the job in front of you,” he said. This got me thinking about what engineers carry — in one or multiple cases — beyond their usual meters, screwdrivers, nutdrivers, pliers, cutting tools, duct tape and clip leads. What else is a “must have” in your tool kit? What adaptors, devices or spares do you choose not to live without? Shoot me a brief email at johnpbisset@gmail.com. We’ll cover the suggestions in a future column. Oh, and what about the bag or tool case itself? What’s your favorite? You may have met retired radio and television engineer Fred Baumgartner serving as master of ceremonies at a
Society of Broadcast Engineers Ennes Workshop. Steve Keeney, one of his favorite general managers, once gave Fred a great Delsey brand briefcase, the type carried by many broadcast engineers in the mid-’80s. It became a perfect field case for crimp tools, wire strippers and punch tools, as you can see in the picture above. As you look over those contents, you’ll see nothing but history. Fred says every new cable seemed to require a new crimper and dedicated stripper.
Are your breakers labeled? In the Alabama Broadcasters Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes e-newsletter, Larry Wilkins shared a great reminder about breaker panel labeling. Larry conducts a lot of station inspections as a part of the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program. He finds that many panels have no labels at all. This is an important safety concern. In an emergency, having a clear breaker label can be the difference between life and death.
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Workbench
Fred’s relics
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“
And the photo at left, also from Fred Baumgartner, shows relics from WIBA’s 5 kW Westinghouse AM transmitter, which was built into three safety-interlocked rooms inside an Art Deco transmitter building. A new RCA replaced the Westinghouse in 1950. On the left is a B+ fuse that uses a spring in PCB oil to instantly quench an arc when blown, typically when a final tube or capacitor shorted, thus saving the mercury vapor rectifiers, transformers and the like. Note that this fuse can be “refilled.” Sand-filled cartridge fuses do the same job but at lower voltages.
Given the maintenance required for transmitters of the 1950s and ’60s, it’s no wonder stations needed a flock of engineers to keep a station on the air. Above Westinghouse transmitter relics.
If the panels at your studio and transmitter sites are not labeled, or if you’re not sure that the labeling is correct, be aware that Amazon and the big box stores have circuit Above right tracers that will identify breakers without having to turn Label your them off. A Sharpie or similar brand marker will work, breakers clearly. Use a label maker though if your handwriting is sloppy, use a label maker. or shop for label (You can also print small labels to identify the panel and kits like the one in breaker and place these on each electrical outlet.) this promotional image on Amazon. Another approach is to print out an electrical panel map from your computer, slide it into a clear plastic sheet protector and tape it inside the breaker box door. Finally, always replace the breaker $ * up to , /yr cover panel after your work is completed. If you’d like to receive Larry’s free With a new Nautel NX weekly newsletter, send him an email at & Orban XPN-AM lwilkins@al-ba.com.
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Big relays constantly needed contact “burnishing” or they would corrode, overheat, arc and fail. However, if the contacts were mercury (as with tower flashers, for example) the problem is solved. The mercury is pooled in the glass tubes and the coil, when energized, drives the contacts into the mercury for this double-pole, singlethrow “contactor.” Mercury-whetted contacts are the little brother. In the days before broadcast engineers set current trip limits with a smartphone or a greenie, we adjusted the spring tension and contact placement on the device shown at lower right in the photo, in order to achieve the correct current trip point. This one trips in the 100 mA neighborhood. Given the maintenance required for transmitters of the 1950s and ’60s, it’s no wonder stations needed a flock of engineers to keep a station on the air.
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Tech Tips Writer
Start planning those spring site projects Are there any jobs that fell off your radar and never got back on it?
Michael Baldauf A semi-retired independent engineer in southern Colorado, the author has worked in roles including chief engineer and project manager since the 1980s.
Below Fig. 1: Protecting the external elements of a liquid-cooled transmitter plant. Right Fig. 2: Newly installed coax risers.
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ow is a good time to plan transmitter site improvements for spring. The priorities will spring to mind easily; but think more broadly and you may realize you have other needs too, including projects that “fell off the radar” during the pandemic years and never got back on the screen. Here are a couple of instances from my own experience. Installing a fluid-cooled transmitter is more complex than putting in an air-cooled one. There are clear advantages once the job is done, but it is not really finished until the cooling radiators outside the building are protected.
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radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Tech Tips
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Left Fig. 3: New line being installed. Right Fig. 4: A long view of the site, with the risers at left.
The first photo on the previous page shows an example of basic protection at a remote mountain site. You can see the fencing we made with hog wire, and an ice bridge above that keeps ice and roof debris away from the area. We also regularly take a DeWalt battery-driven power washer and 5 gallons of water in a bucket, and we gently wash the fins of the radiators. The second photo shows coax risers that were put in place just
before the pandemic. Some of the coax for the antennas was replaced with new line and installed in the risers as shown. But before coax for the rest of the stations could be installed, this project — like many in the 2020–2022 timeframe — ground to a halt. The installer later caught up to the project, coordinating with the stations involved. In two days it got the coax and the covers installed.
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
The work was not critical to the site operation, but it is an investment in preventive maintenance and can pay long-term dividends. Such expenditures sometimes require justification. They shouldn’t. They’re akin to changing the oil in a car regularly or getting a physical at your doctor’s once a year. Site engineers and their supervisors should plan to take a critical look at their facilities and revisit some of this big-picture thinking.
Excellence in Engineering Writer
Paul McLane Editor in Chief
For Jurison, data display is the face of radio Our Excellence in Engineering Award winner advocates for a consistent listener experience
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lan Jurison is the recipient of the 2024 Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award. Honorees represent the highest ideals of the U.S. radio broadcast engineering profession and reflect those ideals through contributions to the industry. We’re saluting Alan for his work in deploying and advancing HD Radio services over the years, both for his employer and for the industry at large; for his contributions to the National Radio Systems Committee, including projects like helping stations insert local EAS alerts onto HD Radio subchannels; for his efforts to educate the industry about RDS and HD Radio metadata and the importance of high-quality, consistent metadata displays; for his involvement with the SBE; and for his advocacy for engineering education and awareness of issues like virtualization, the cloud and the evolving radio air chain. Jurison, 44, is senior operations engineer for the Technical Operations group at iHeartMedia, reporting to Jeff Littlejohn. He started in radio at age 15 with Pilot Communications and worked for years at Citadel Broadcasting before joining iHeartMedia in 2012. He is based in Syracuse, N.Y. We spoke with him about his work and career.
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Above Right Alan Jurison hosted the NAB Technology Luncheon in 2016.
Describe your responsibilities and current role. Alan Jurison: I’m the company’s lead on HD Radio, RDS and metadata services, making sure we’re providing the best experience for our listeners and customers. Everyone thinks of HD Radio in terms of its audio channels but there’s all the data behind it too, the metadata services that provide title and artist, album art, station logos, and the data we send over HD stations to feed in-vehicle car navigation systems with traffic and weather information. iHeartMedia brought me on to help build that system and make sure our automotive customers,
the OEMs, were happy with the data. Now the job is about making sure it is reliable and well maintained. The RDS aspect is mostly fully developed now, but we maintain it, make sure it works and that systems are updated. There’s also streaming metadata, making sure the app looks okay. Teams write the code and handle the app development, but that data has to come from somewhere, so we have people and systems in-place to make sure that is managed well. And then there are emerging hybrid radio platforms like RadioDNS and DTS AutoStage. You’re starting to see vehicles that have it, and there will be more in the future, which is exciting. If something doesn’t quite look right, we figure out whether the problem is on our side, with the source data, or with an implementation on the receiver side. We’ve worked over the past 10 to 12 years with Xperi and industry partners like GatesAir, Nautel, Inovonics and WorldCast to make sure equipment that we and other broadcasters buy support metadata. These companies take feedback, from me and many others, combine it with their own great ideas and put these best practices into products
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Excellence in Engineering people can buy to manage metadata and make sure their stations provide the best experience. You’ve been an advocate of getting metadata right. But in your job, you wouldn’t necessarily have to be so vocal. You could choose to focus on it for iHeartMedia while letting other companies worry about it for themselves. But by working with vendors, it helps other companies too. Jurison: I work with various manufacturers as well as Xperi, and I give them lots of ideas. Sometimes these are iHeartMedia-specific but we try to think globally, because it doesn’t really benefit anyone to make a bunch of special devices or software that only one company can use. And we want to keep costs down for ourselves as well as the rest of the industry. There’s a lot of R&D that goes into these products. I started putting RDS on stations at Citadel in 2002 or so, it was a pet project of mine. I believed that displays in the car were going to evolve and get more immersive. I discovered some best practices on how to use RDS, and worked with software developer Victor Capton to develop what would become Citadel’s metadata solution. These best practices were often developed through research on RDS standards, but also trial and error. I remember going around the office asking to borrow the
keys of staff members at the radio station when they got a new car to look at how the metadata implementations were similar, or different. Some of the first articles I wrote in Radio World were related to those efforts. “Hey, there’s this new car that can show you all 64 characters of RDS all at once, not chunked in those little eight-character blocks! You’ll be able to see the whole message!” This was around 2008, in one of the first iterations of modern infotainment systems. But I still feel like we’re in its infancy. Just imagine, when people don’t have to actually drive the car, how immersive these things will be. You still see stations that don’t understand how important it is to look good visually in the dash. We’re working with vendors to make it easier for smaller broadcasters. There’s a lot yet to come that will help a smaller station deploy metadata services. Will the introduction of hybrid platforms expand the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots,” to the detriment of stations that don’t engage with metadata? Jurison: It ends up becoming their business decision. But to date, HD Radio, streaming and RDS are all optional systems. Participating with them is voluntary. If you’re a smaller station or group, maybe you can’t afford all of the
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Excellence in Engineering
Excellence Honor Roll
2004 Andy Andreson 2005 Mike Starling 2006 John Lyons 2007 Clay Freinwald 2008 Jeff Littlejohn 2009 Gary Kline 2010 Milford Smith 2011 Barry Thomas 2012 Paul Brenner 2013 Marty Garrison 2014 Wayne Pecena
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2015 David H. Layer 2016–17 Michael Cooney 2017–18 Larry Wilkins 2018–19 Russ Mundschenk 2019–20 Dave Kolesar 2020–21 Jason Ornellas 2021–22 Roz Clark 2023 Steve Shultis 2024 Alan Jurison
NXSeries 3 kW – 50 kW AM
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Photo by Jim Peck
Jurison: Lately I’ve been involved with the Above wizardry. As we move more into the softwareAlan Jurison, NABRTC’s work with Nielsen on software-based developed world, it becomes less necessary to second from left, PPM SDK encoding — encouraging them to buy additional hardware to get these functions. enjoys the 2019 NAB Show with develop those tools and working with the This is the next evolution over five to 10 Dan Mettler, Van manufacturers to implement it. This wasn’t a years in broadcasting. The computer in a Craft and James very hard sell, but those conversations needed transmitter you buy will do almost everything. Gay. to happen. Jason Ornellas of Bonneville was the Such solutions aren’t quite realized in the point person. marketplace yet, but where we’re going as an With the RTC it’s nice to be working among industry industry is pretty exciting. peers. We all have the same kind of problems; so how I look at Nautel’s recent announcement with its GV2, which integrates audio processing, RDS and HD Radio can we solve them, working with a Nielsen or hardware alignment into the transmitter. That’s pretty powerful. manufacturer or a group of manufacturers on our common And while that might only be offered in a flagship product, challenges? eventually this approach will work its way into lower By the same process we’re moving towards a softwarepower levels. Other manufacturers are working in this based EAS ecosystem. Those conversations are in their direction as well. infancy, while we’re trying to get buy-in and feedback from That kind of thing will be compelling for smaller the FCC and others, but the initial conversations seem broadcasters, who will buy the pretty good. transmitter they plan to buy anyway We have to consider questions like, “The EAS system and get these features too. we’ve had for 30 years has worked pretty well, so why is moving it to software advantageous?” And examine You do a lot of work with the questions about security and redundancy. National Radio Systems In the long term, a software-based EAS model, as we’re Committee and the NAB Radio envisioning it, could be more resilient than the system we Technical Committee. have today. Currently, at most stations, EAS is just one
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Excellence in Engineering hardware device. But if it’s all in software, we would have multiple instances at a variety of places — at the studio, at transmitter sites, at the backup transmitter site. Today, if that one box fails, EAS is out of service for 60 days on a station. With software, you could resolve it immediately. Future changes to EAS become much easier in a secure software-defined environment. So we’re working with the FCC and with FEMA/IPAWS. They seem open broadly to the concept but we haven’t gotten into nitty gritty details yet. I think they’re still processing the benefits and weighing comments from others. How did you develop interest in radio technology? Jurison: I got a computer when I was in first grade. And growing up, I was listening to the radio all the time. We didn’t stream audio back then. We moved from Pittsburgh to Syracuse when I was 12. I was one of those people who’d call WNTQ, the local radio station. I would bother the nighttime DJ, Rob Wagman. Finally one day I asked if I could come in for a tour. It was really cool. And one of the first things I noticed was that to prepare their nightly feature “The Top Nine at 9,” they were taking phone calls all day using a piece of paper and pen, tallying requests of what to play. I thought that seemed inefficient, so I wrote a DOS program that tallied up the requests for them. I came back the next week with the program — of course, it was on a floppy drive — and they started using it. I think they were still using it when I left the company 17 years later. The station was owned by Osborn Communications. Shortly thereafter, the 1996 Telecom Act came around and Jim Leven of Pilot Communications bought the station. I became an intern for a bit and then did technical work with computers, and my role expanded. When I started, there were maybe four computers at the entire station — for the business manager, the program director, the receptionist and for commercial traffic. Then they decided to put a computer in the studio. Automation became a thing. I remember thinking that someone had to figure out how to get them all to talk to each other. Of course, computer automation wasn’t nearly as reliable as it is today. And you couldn’t just go out and buy a refined server-grade Dell or Lenovo to run it, either. These were all homebrew PCs. But I’d been doing that kind of stuff at home on my own already, so it was second nature to me.
Photo by Victor Capton
“” Above Jurison and Dave Edwards review data during a directional proof of 1260 AM in Syracuse in 2001.
Getting all that to work, teaching the staff how to use it, was really fun. Then we merged and became more stations, we moved and consolidated. That’s when I got out of my IT world and started learning radio engineering, helping take apart studios and moving them, building studios from the ground up. When you tear apart everything and have to make it work again, that’s when you learn.
In the long term a softwarebased EAS model, as we’re envisioning it, could be more resilient than the system we have today.
Did you have mentors? Jurison: Dave Edwards was the director of engineering and knew a ton about RF, audio and the industry, while I knew about computers and networking. We bonded, and he taught me how to wire up a studio and fix a transmitter. He still works at Cumulus in Syracuse. Later, Barry Thomas noticed that I was writing articles for Radio World about the newer infotainment systems and optimizing RDS. He was involved with the National Radio Systems Committee and chaired it for a time, and he invited me to come to a meeting. That’s where I got to know David Layer of NAB and many other colleagues and peers who shared best practices and ideas. Then the idea came about to put together an NRSC guideline on best practices for RDS, and that’s what we did, going back to the original Radio World articles I’d written and building on that. The new guideline was to become NRSC-G300. It wasn’t written by one person, it reflects the contributions of dozens of people.
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
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Excellence in Engineering Then iHeartMedia brought you over from Citadel. Jurison: In 2012, iHeartMedia’s Total Traffic and Weather Network created a nationwide service for delivering information for display in vehicles via HD Radio. I was hired to ensure the quality and reliability of the HD Radio and RDS delivery networks, and to focus on improving the experience of listeners by helping to add and improve metadata, album art and station logos.
More on Alan
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Alan Jurison started at age 15 with Pilot Communications in Syracuse, N.Y., where he developed the technical aspects of the industry’s first remote voice-tracking for stations in distant cities. The local newspaper clipping shown here is from 1995. 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. He led many IT and engineering projects for the company. He played roles in transitioning IT systems in the acquisition of ABC Radio/ABC Radio Network at Citadel in 2007 and assisted with IT transitions after the Cumulus acquisition. “What always impressed me about Alan was that he was able to come up with solutions to engineering and IT projects that many times were completely out of the box,” said Dave Edwards, who is now with the Cumulus Radio Station Group in Syracuse. “He was always very generous with his time and never failed to help
The work required not only software development on our end, but also replacing HD Radio encoding hardware on 400 stations in a very short timeframe. We were essentially on Gen 2 of HD Radio at the time in most of the country. We were moving to a consolidated Gen 3 platform so we could deliver the services we do now through HD Radio. We started in 2012 and over a year or so we ramped these services up. We needed to prepare to deliver data services for our biggest client, Toyota Lexus.
his fellow co-workers navigate the newly unfolding world of computers and networking. I fall back on the things I learned from him to this day.” Dave Marchette, former CTO of Citadel Broadcasting, said that even as a young engineer barely old enough to vote, Jurison was “a superstar junior, a diamond in the rough. Enthusiastically analytical with an ability to think way outside the box, he possessed a wide, deep knowledge set especially rare for a young engineer. But his real superpower was his laser focus.” Marchette recalls a time when Citadel was transitioning to computer-based playback and automation. “The backbone upon which this was accomplished was a large Windows Active Directory domain that spanned the country. Deploying this piece of infrastructure into a mission-critical high-uptime environment was an important task, one that he led valiantly. Using advanced scripting techniques and a ‘security first’ approach, Alan’s team helped us build a scalable and secure platform that had literally 100% uptime for well over a decade.” In 2012, Jurison joined iHeartMedia as a senior operations engineer for the corporate Technical Operations group. “Alan’s in-depth knowledge, attention to detail and continuous drive for improvement, have resulted in a greatly improved listener and advertiser experience,” said Jeff Littlejohn, executive vice president, engineering and systems integration. “I think it is safe to say that Alan is one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field of HD Radio. His involvement in industry groups have elevated the reliability of HD Radio for all.” Littlejohn too commented on Jurison’s focus and attention to detail. “He takes the time to dive into the minutiae and figure out the how and why of a problem and then works diligently to get the issue resolved. Alan builds relationships, seeks information from others, and freely shares his own knowledge.” Meanwhile for more than a decade Jurison also chaired the NRSC’s Metadata Usage Working Group, and in 2022 he became chair of its IBOC Standards Development Working Group. He also serves on the NAB Radio Technology Committee and co-authored a chapter in the 11th edition of the NAB Engineering Handbook. He is a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers and holds several certifications, including Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer, AM Directional Specialist, Digital Radio Broadcast and Broadcast Networking Engineer.
Excellence in Engineering Jeff Littlejohn and Rob Speicher were instrumental mentors getting me set up quickly in my role here at iHeartMedia, to learn the new company, to make the introductions and inform my interactions with internal and external colleagues at Xperi and Toyota on the project. With contributions from others, we assembled a solution recognized by the OEMs and that won the Telematics Update Best Navigation Solution award for 2012–2013. Over a decade later, the product is still recognized as a best-in-class solution and in use today. Is there a technical challenge today across the industry that you feel engineers should be thinking about? Jurison: The software-defined air chain — moving more processes from physical widgets into a larger system that consolidate different broadcast functions. This is not a oneyear thing, it’s a five-year thing, at least. We mentioned PPM encoding in the audio processor, and EAS. Manufacturers have been absorbing these ideas and building products that consolidate these functions to simplify the air chain. The other thing is making sure that stations take steps to provide really good listening experiences — not just how good the station sounds but the whole enriched experience with the metadata.
And to make sure it looks good in a variety of vehicles, not just one. People become myopic about their metadata because they have one car where they look at it, but not every car is designed the same way. We should always consider our metadata use across a variety of different radio implementations and platforms. While I no longer borrow the keys of staff to play with their in-dash vehicles, I do make it a point to rent and observe the industry’s metadata in new vehicles often.
Above “I’m a big Syracuse basketball fan. I attend any game I’m in town for and I go to a few road games. Usually you’ll find me in the stands but sometimes I help visiting teams with engineering radio broadcasts.”
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Promo Power
Mark Lapidus is a veteran multi-platform media and marketing executive.
Six contest ideas to start the year
G
iving away a classic 1972 Stingray Corvette in front of several hundred people, I learned the hard way that it’s possible for two contestants — each holding the key to a different classic car — to start the same damned car. So sure, contests can have their issues! But they also create appointment listening and increase time spent listening. While collective national contesting can be an effective tool, there’s no substitute for local contests to create memories and bonding with listeners. Plus, if executed correctly, you can tie in sponsors to generate added revenue. Is your contest calendar full yet for 2024? If not, here are fun ideas to get you started.
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Above Contests and promotions page for iHeart Cincinnati station WEBN(FM).
NVLT Series 3.5 kW – 40 kW Outstanding Efficiency at Exceptional Value
nautel.com/NVlt
Laugh Out Loud: Record the distinctive laughs of celebrities, including your own on-air talent. Have listeners guess the name of the laugher. Prize: Tickets to a local comedy club. Grand prize: A trip for two to see a wellknown national comedian. Mystery Riff: Play a short clip of a guitar riff from a popular song and increase the length of it until a listener wins. Start with two seconds — or as little time possible for sharp ears to catch it — and increase by one second for each try. Prize: Guitar lessons. Grand prize: An autographed guitar from a star in your format.
Light Up the Night … with the radio station’s call letters or logo: Listeners get creative with your brand, put ’em up on their houses or businesses, take a photo, and you post all the entries to your website. The audience then votes on best treatment. Grand Prize: A trip to see a famous sign, like the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. Cash Cow: Ever heard of green milk? Whenever the cow moos — before, after and during songs or commercials, anyone who texts in has a chance to win cash. Karaoke Kristmas: Using the voice memo app on their phone, listeners submit 30 seconds of singing a Christmas song of their choice with the music in the background. Play the best ones onair, put them all on your website. If a listener hears themselves on the radio and calls the station within 10 minutes, they win a Christmas tree. Free Gas Fridays: It never gets old and always attracts a crowd. If you want to create a traffic jam that draws news coverage on a slow news day, pick a specific time and gas station on a Friday. First 50 cars get up to $50 worth of gas. Your maximum spend is $2,500. If your station is embracing sustainability, this one easily changes to “Free Charging Fridays.” Give these charging credits away on-air to be used at the winner’s convenience. The best part of contesting? In a sea of sameness, unpredictability is a key point of differentiation. Add the fun and you’ve got a winner.
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Digital Radio WorldDAB President Plants Her Flag New WorldDAB President Jacqueline Bierhorst hit the ground running at the organization’s 2023 annual summit in November, after honoring outgoing president Patrick Hannon for his contributions. Bierhorst began by outlining DAB’s progress. “Just look at what we already achieved through collaboration and legislation throughout Europe on cars, and the fact that DAB-equipped cars are there in countries where there’s no legislation,” she said. “Nearly 100 percent of all new cars come with DAB+ standard in Europe, and this forms a big advantage for countries that are yet to launch DAB+. It’s good that we collaborate and the radio button is preserved in the heart of the dashboard in the car, so broadcast radio is as easily accessible as ever.” She then focused on how Europeans continue to prioritize radio listening over other options. “Let’s zoom in on how drivers listen to radio in their cars,” said Bierhorst. “Figures from the U.K. show an exponential growth of DAB+ listening in the car. FM is declining and listening via online or apps show no growth. This pattern is also seen in Belgium, Netherlands and other countries, despite the fact that there are more options to listen to radio in the home. [And] more DAB+ radios are sold year on year.” She acknowledged that there are varying levels of adoption by listeners across Europe. This is why WorldDAB’s project office, committees and advocates “need to create DAB+ awareness and
WorldDAB account on X
seduce listeners to buy new radios throughout public campaigns and collaboration with retail,” she said. Read stories about the summit at http://radioworld.com, keyword summit. — James Careless
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
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Open Position | NewVision FM, Upper Sandusky, OH Assistant Operations Director – On Air Host 28
Full time ministry position at 5 station group of non-commercial, 31 year old Christian radio non-profit located in Northwest/Central Ohio. Reporting to the Director of Operations-Engineering, this person is responsible to assist with the technical operation of two separate radio formats on 3 full-power FM stations and 2 FM translators. The position includes oversight of BE’s AudioVault automation software, Wheatstone studio equipment, the Wheatstone Blade System, BE and Nautel FM transmitters, in addition to other technical, IT, and programming needs. The position also requires On-Air skills related to hosting live Christian music programs, voice tracking, and other produced audio products using Adobe Audition production software. The Candidate must have the ability to work in close proximity with other team members in a currently challenged office environment in this growing radio organization.
Send Resume confidentially to Joe Emert, VP/GM at jemert@newvision.fm
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...nothing! For more information contact John Casey at 1-845-678-3839 or email john.casey@futurenet.com
RWM_Class_House2_Aug23.indd 2
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
8/29/23 6:07 PM
Readers’ Forum
Once, twice, three times a tower Readers have enriched our lives by sending us more great pix of tower sites. The moonlit photo shown here is the WLS tower in Tinley Park, Ill., and was taken by retired engineer Ed Glab on his new iPhone 15 Pro during a meeting of the Chicago SBE chapter at the site in September of this year. You can read about this photo and the history of this AM tower at radioworld.com, search keyword WLS. The photo at lower right was taken by veteran engineer and consultant Clay Freinwald, a past recipient of Radio World’s Excellence in Engineering Award, and shows the transmitting antenna for KOHO(FM), licensed to Leavenworth, Wash., and operated by Northwest Public Broadcasting. “The site is Blag Mountain in the Central Cascades of Washington State, elevation 4,687 feet,” Clay writes. And last, Dennis Jackson sent us a springtime shot. “This is the tower for WMEX(FM) in Farmington, N.H., and WWPC(FM) in New Durham, N.H. The photo was taken in May 2002 shortly after we raised the height of the tower to 100 feet.” WMEX, founded by Jackson, is now Educational Media Foundation station WNHI.
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
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Readers’ Forum I take issue with his statement, “Yes a firewall is the bane of every 21st century broadcast engineer’s existence.” As someone who left full-time radio employment in 1997 to work in television, first as an IT engineer, then as assistant chief, now as director of engineering, I think David is at fault for perpetrating the adage that engineering is at odds with IT by making the statement about the firewall. Can firewalls make external access to an internal asset difficult? Absolutely, but to call them the “bane of an engineer’s existence” is to trivialize the point the article attempts to make, namely that IT security is critically important and that running an old, outdated, unsupported OS is asking for trouble. A modern engineer needs to know and understand their firewall, and work with their IT team, whether it be local, outsourced or part of a corporately managed team. If your firewall is a mystery, ask for some one-on-one time with your IT team to understand, perhaps having them walk through the config line by line so you can understand what the firewall is doing. Become an ally of your IT department, not their anathema, and you will help your station(s) grow and succeed.
Help make pot safer
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I read Gregg Skall’s article about marijuana advertising (radioworld.com/author/ greggskall). While not a marijuana user since the early 1980s, I think broadcasting lobbyists are going about this issue all wrong. Even if this type of advertising became legal with no repercussions, I don’t know if our company would take the business. But the marketplace of people who buy marijuana from sources other than dispensaries is huge; and fentanyl-laced marijuana has caused overdose deaths and hospitalizations. With an estimated 3.5 million monthly marijuana users (one in eight adults) not buying from safe, legal and licensed dispensaries just in our company’s own broadcast markets, not letting these dispensaries advertise legally and responsibly is a recipe for needless heartache. It only strengthens the cartels and the mayhem they cause in our cities and in their countries of origin. Advertising for the purchase of LEGAL and SAFE marijuana would save lives as well as increase tax revenues. I’ll add that in my 50+ years in the business I never would have thought that personal injury law firms, casinos, prescription drugs, hospitals, medical specialists, sports betting, even liquor would be among our industry’s biggest advertisers. Or that every stadium or venue would have sold out their naming rights to a corporate sponsor. I suspect that before the end of this decade we will see and hear responsible local marijuana store advertising and the eventual consolidation of these retailers under a handful of regional and national “name brands.” Mike Bustell VP Market Research Hubbard
Know thy firewall Regarding David Bialik’s article “Are You Using an Unsupported OS? Read This!”:
Gibson Prichard Nashville, Tenn.
More Waze than one
How to submit
Radio World welcomes comment on all relevant topics. Email radioworld@ futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.
Regarding Waze, which has been the subject of several letters: I find Waze invaluable. And I like that it was “invented” by just a couple of guys. We have multiple tools available for travel information, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. “GIGO.” Waze works pretty much anywhere. It tells me specifically where slow traffic is and where the police are. Reports from drivers can be accurate or old, but I contribute my reports whenever possible. The signage in most cities is horrid. And even if the radio carries traffic reports, I find them more useful for locals. “The Blue Route is clogged,” “the Corkscrew is clogged,” “the tunnel is backed up.” I don’t know what/where those are, and such comments are not much help for a traveler who will be halfway through town before the next report comes up. But of course radio reports can be invaluable. I wouldn’t dream of heading for the airport in a major city without the radio on … AND Waze. (Forget CB even on the interstates!)
radioworld.com | January 3 2024
Terry Skelton Bucks County, Pa.
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