2024, a Year of Radio World in Review – Radio World

Radio World’s editorial team posts 1,200 to 1,400 news and feature articles each year, so it’s tough to summarize them! And many focus on products, people news and other daily industry business.

But below, for each month, I’ve chosen three or four of the most important news stories we reported from the worlds of tech regulation, policy and broadcast engineering.

January

“FCC Keeps Radio Market Caps in Place” — Just before the year began, the Rosenworcel FCC finally (finally!) completed its review of ownership rules. Unfortunately this was the PREVIOUS quadrennial, which had begun in 2018. The FCC kept in place its local ownership limits and caps for radio and turned aside broadcaster arguments seeking more deregulation. Watch for a different outcome in the (yet uncompleted) 2022 quadrennial review under the incoming administration. (Maybe they should start on 2026 earlier…?)

“FM6 LPTV Rules Take Effect” — We’d been following the fortunes of “Franken FM” stations for years (and we helped make that nickname popular). Their unusual tale reached a conclusion when the FCC essentially grandfathered in 14 such stations, and they had to declare their intentions in early 2024.

“Audacy Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy” — The second-largest radio owner in the United States (by revenue) announced a prepackaged filing that would reduce its debt dramatically. The bankruptcy court approved it promptly but the FCC’s approval was required, and the process became a political controversy because of the involvement of Soros Fund Management. The commission ultimately gave its OK on a party-line vote.

February

“Hey, Who Stole My Tower?” — The story broke about an Alabama station manager discovering that his tower apparently had been stolen. It would get weird.

“Shane Toven Agrees to Settlement With APRE” — The association and its former treasurer reached a settlement of APRE’s lawsuit, with Toven sharing public comments for the first time, but both were mum about the details.

“FCC Revives Annual Station Employment Reports” — Here’s another commission initiative that probably won’t stand under the new chairman. Broadcasters hate the idea of this form, and Commissioner Brendan Carr said at the time that the party-line vote meant “the FCC will now post a race and gender scorecard for each and every TV and radio broadcast station in the country.” He’ll have the chance to change course soon.

“FCC Rejects Proposed LPFM Coastal Weather Network” — The Weather Alert Radio Network had a clever idea and filed 213 applications to achieve it; but its concept wasn’t what the FCC had in mind when it created the LPFM service. WARN later appealed, without success.

March

“David Kolesar to Receive NAB’s Engineering Achievement Award” — The idea of all-digital on the AM band in the United States has yet to take off, but pretty much anyone who is involved in digital radio admires Kolesar for his role in commissioning the first full-time MA3 station and for his advocacy for all-digital AM. The award was announced in March; this profile story ran after the spring show.

“Audio Innovator Bob Heil Dies” — The news hit a lot of people in radio and audio personally. If you’ve ever come back from a trade show and told your family, “I met the guy who invented the Talk Box that Peter Frampton and Joe Walsh used,” you are not alone. His achievements earned an exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Many engineers also knew him as an active member of the amateur radio community.

“AM and AI Are High on LeGeyt’s Priority List” — Randy Stine and I interviewed the leader of the National Association of Broadcasters to gain insight into NAB’s thinking on various issues including geotargeting (about which LeGeyt said, “Our competitive advantage is in the range of our signal. A technology that would undermine our ability to reach the masses cuts radio off at the knees.”)

April

“Partial County Alerting in Spotlight at NAB Show” —  I asked Adrienne Abbott, chair of the Nevada State Emergency Communications Committee, to explain the subject and how PCA allows broadcasters to tailor the dissemination of EAS messages to affected areas.

“Commission Will Allow FM Geotargeting” — After years of furious comments between critics and proponents, the commission gave unanimous approval to allowing boosters to originate programming for three minutes per hour. Whether this will create the turmoil predicted by the NAB and others won’t be known until systems are up and running.

“Three Industry Suppliers Form Triple Helix Technologies” — Josh Bohn of MaxxKonnect was named CEO, Mike Dosch of Angry Audio heads product development and Tag Borland of Logitek heads technology. The three are equal co-owners of the new entity.

“Digital Alert Systems, Telos and Nautel Collaborate on EAS Virtualization” — They jointly introduced a concept they call EAS at the Edge intended to “bring the emergency alert process into the interconnected AoIP world.”

“NAB Show Draws Around 61,000” — But you can add one robot to that number, after Daniel Anstandig brought a humanish AI robot to the show’s Main Stage.

May

“FCC Proposes $850K in Pirate Radio Fines in Massachusetts” — This was one of several notable forfeitures and proposed fines, growing out of the commission’s increased enforcement efforts per the PIRATE Act.

“What I Heard During the Solar Event” — Award-winning engineer and RW contributor Mark Persons described the impact of a geomagnetic storm on AM, shortwave and amateur radio.

“What the WMAS Ruling Means for Radio” — Prakash Moorut of Shure brought readers up to date on the expanding use of Wireless Multichannel Audio Systems.

“Rosenworcel Circulates Proposal to Regulate AI Use in Political Ads” — A striking idea but yet another initiative that probably doesn’t stand a chance under the next FCC.

June

“LPFM Hopeful Says a Typo Should Not Prevent a CP” — The Selma Weather and Information Forum said the FCC was severely penalizing an LPFM applicant for “failing to achieve inhumanly digital perfection, perfection not demanded by the commission of its own data and systems.”

“A New FM Class ‘A10’ for Radio?” —Mississippi broadcaster Carl Haynes asked the FCC to establish a Class A10, hoping that hundreds of Class A stations would be able to increase power. He thought his proposal might stand a better chance at the FCC than the previously proposed Class C4. The NAB subsequently said not enough was known about the idea, while Cumulus opposed it.

“Broadcast Engineering Icon Richard Burden Dies” — Born in 1931, Dick played an influential role in several facets of broadcast engineering in the mid to late 20th century, including FM stereo, TV/radio audio engineering and the creation of the Traveler’s Information Service.

July

“Swiss Public Radio Commits to 2024 End for FM” — The public broadcaster SRG SSR said it would go dark on FM. SRG SSR launched DAB services in 1999 and over 25 years Swiss listeners have steadily shifted their listening from traditional analog broadcast to digital.

“NAB Challenges Broadcast Ownership Rules in Court” — The association wrote that the FCC has long ignored reams of evidence that broadcasters face competition from a multitude of sources, including streaming services, cable, satellite and online video applications.

“Broadcasters Grapple With Global IT Outage” — Fortunately, CrowdStrike wasn’t a widespread problem in radio or the world of emergency alerting.

August

“FCC Confirms $2.3 Million Penalty Against Johnny Peralta” — See above re pirate enforcement. Whether the federal government will ever see any of Peralta’s money is an open question.

“EAS Gets a New Code for Missing and Endangered Persons” — The FCC believes the MEP code will be particularly beneficial to tribal communities. It voted in August; this story was Randy Stine’s followup about what comes next.

“Ted Hand Is Reelected as President of the SBE” — He said he wants to build on recent work that includes an entry-level certification, publishing SBE Station Self-Inspection Guides, and enhancing the society’s international presence.

“VOA Is Shuttering Its Marianas Shortwave Site” — In recent years, the U.S. Agency for Global Media has sought to redirect resources from shortwave broadcasting to other channels based upon where it can best reach its desired audiences.

September

“Radio Station Fees Go Down Again” — Who says fees only go up? Radio fees went down about 6% and have declined for two years in a row. Tip yer hat to the NAB, which has pushed the commission hard on how it allocates the burden of fees in its formulas.

“FCC Says Its Fee Database Issue Has Been Fixed” — Then after the good news of the prior story came news that some stations were having problems with actually paying. The technical issue was ironed out pretty quickly.

“Dozens of Radio Stations Were Knocked Off the Air by Helene” — Broadcasters dealt with the impact of a storm that caused more than 230 fatalities.

“FM Stations Can Use Asymmetric HD Radio Sidebands” — At least most of them can. The commission held off giving that permission to stations at the upper end of the FM band, due to aviation industry concerns.

October

“Ragsdale Departs SBE, Society Launches Search” — Ragsdale was the second full-time executive director of the society; he had succeeded John Poray in January 2021. His departure was unexpected, and with few details released.

“Nielsen’s Proposed 3-Minute Quarter Hour” — Guest columnist Jerry Del Colliano commented on the implications of the plan for radio programmers. Nielsen subsequently is moving ahead with the change.

“NASCAR’s Radio Network Gets a Major Upgrade in North Carolina” — The radio network has a brand-new facility to keep listeners strapped in to their favorite auto racing coverage.

“Helicopter Tower Collision Takes Four Lives” — The accident in Houston involved a tall tower owned by SBA Communications and supporting several broadcast antennas. A NOTAM for the tower had been filed earlier, but the company said the notice was due to a recent change of ownership and that there had been no beacon outages.

“Audacy FM in Denver Goes All-In on Super Hi-Fi” — How will artificial intelligence and the cloud change radio workflows? “Front Range Country 103.1” in Denver is exploring the question.

November/December

“Longtime Alabama Engineer Dies” — The passing of Tom Jones at age 78 was noted by the Alabama Broadcasters Association. He’d been chief engineer for over 40 years for WBAM(AM/FM) in Montgomery, Ala., and served as a contract engineer for numerous stations in central and south Alabama.

“DAB+ Radio and Public Safety” — Carsten Zorger of WorldDAB explained the Automatic Safety Alert system, calling it a significant advancement in public safety communication in regions served by DAB.

“Trump Taps Carr as Next FCC Chair” — Oh, was there an election in November? Yes, there was, and commission watchers immediately began prognosticating about the implications for policy.

“Jeff Littlejohn Retires From iHeartMedia” — The development brings an end to what iHeart described as an “extraordinary 32 years” that began in 1992 with a job as chief engineer for Cincinnati. Steve George succeeds him. Littlejohn told me later that the change came on his own initiative and that he plans to travel internationally and to do more serious cycling.

“WNYC Set to Test All-Digital AM” — The scheduled test later was postponed, but watch for more on that front early next year.

“Audacy Proposes to Move WCCO Transmitter From Iconic Site” — The 50 kW clear-channel AM has been transmitting from there since 1925, when the Washburn Crosby Company, after which its call letters are named, moved its signal there from downtown Minneapolis.

“SBE Adds ‘Certified Production Technologist’ Level” — This is an entry-level cert without a career service requirement.

“EMF Unveils New HQ in Tennessee” — EMF is the parent company of K-Love and Air1, the largest Christian music radio networks in the U.S. The nonprofit began constructing its new global headquarters — located in Franklin, Tenn. — in 2022, after it announced it was relocating from Rocklin, Calif.

“AM Bill Won’t Pass This Congress” — And we learned this week that the bill was not part of the continuing resolution that is expected to enable Congress to keep the government operating while it goes home for the holidays.