USA, Congresso e FCC in rotta di collisione

E' un conflitto che nella democrazia americana, con il suo complesso sistema di contrappesi e supervisioni incrociate, ha tutte le caratteristiche di una grave crisi istituzionale il testa a testa tra il Congresso USA e il capo della FCC la potentissima authority per le telecomunicazioni guidata da Kevin Martin. Senza troppi mezzi termini il deputato democratico e presidente della Commisione parlamentare per il commercio John Dingell ha aperto un'inchiesta sull'operato di Martin. "Ho perso fiducia nel modo in cui la FCC viene gestita," ha affermato Dingell. Parole pesantissime in una nazione in cui la politica fa veramente un passo indietro quando a decidere sono i regolatori del mercato. L'accusa, neanche tanto velata, nei confronti di Martin è di avere operato senza trasparenza, nascondendo informazioni ai suoi stessi commissari. In ballo ci sono decisioni come quella relativa all'industria della tv via cavo, dove si sta discutendo se ci siano o no le condizioni (il superamento di una determinata soglia di abbonati) che autorizzano l'intervento regolatorio della Commissione. Un'altra polemica riguarda l'abolizione dei limiti per cui l'editore di un quotidiano non poteva possedere, nello stesso mercato metropolitano, una stazione televisiva (Martin ha deciso che si può fare).
Per chi segue l'evoluzione del sistema di radio digitale IBOC, è una situazione curiosa, perché molti DXer americani vanno ripetendo da anni che la FCC, invece di fare il cane da guardia contro gli interessi monopolistici delle grandi aziende, ha favorito scelte che starebbero uccidendo la radio. Ma anche fuori dal nostro contesto specializzato, il conflitto che si è aperto deve farci riflettere sull'efficacia del sistema di contrappesi di cui dicevo all'inizio. L'esistenza stessa di un conflitto, e i possibili effetti delle reazioni scatenate dall'inchiesta di Dingell, dimostrano quanto gli Stati Uniti siano più avanti di noi nell'approccio alla gestione della complessità che ci circonda.
Il commento che segue, apparso su Mediaweek di VNU Network, riassume molto bene quello che sta accadendo.

Dingell: FCC on Verge of a 'Breakdown'

Brooks Boliek

DECEMBER 04, 2007

The chairman of the House Commerce Committee said that he is losing confidence in the way the FCC is being handled and has launched an investigation into the methods used by the head of the agency.
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., one of Congress' most dogged investigators, told FCC chairman Kevin Martin on Monday (Dec. 3) that he thinks the agency is on the verge of a breakdown.
"Procedural breakdowns at the agency tasked with overseeing communications laws for our entire nation jeopardize the public interest it is bound to serve," Dingell said. "Our nation is founded on fair, open and transparent government, and the FCC is certainly no exception. When that openness and transparency is compromised, so too is public confidence in the agency."
In a letter dated Dec. 3, Dingell told Martin that the Commerce Committee's investigative panel, which Dingell chairs, was launching an investigation into the FCC's practices.
"Given several events and proceedings over the past year, I am rapidly losing confidence that the commission has been conducting its affairs in an appropriate manner," Dingell wrote. "While this is certainly not true for every commission proceeding, a trend appears to be emerging of short-circuiting procedural norms, suggesting a larger breakdown at the agency."
In particular, Dingell wants Martin to answer questions about how he informs the public and other commissioners about upcoming rule changes.
Wrote Dingell: "For instance, the commission does not put the text of proposed rules out for notice and comment; there is little public notice of certain proposed commission actions; and commissioners are often not informed of the details of draft items until it is too late to provide the necessary scrutiny and analysis that is so important to reasoned decision-making."
Recently, commissioners Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat, and Robert McDowell, a Republican, accused Martin of withholding information in the commission's recent decision on whether the cable industry had reached a critical subscriber threshold that would allow the commission to regulate the industry.
"Taken as a whole, these events lead to larger concerns as to the inclination and ability of the commission to perform its core mission: the implementation of federal law to serve the public interest," Dingell wrote.
FCC spokesman Clyde Ensslin said the chairman would answer the lawmaker's questions.
Martin's tangle with Congress isn't likely to end with Dingell's letter, known in Washington as a Dingellgram, as he is scheduled Wednesday (Dec. 5) to face the Commerce Committee's telecommunications subcommittee over his proposal to undo the general ban that keeps one company from owning a newspaper and a TV station in the same city. Martin has proposed lifting the ban in the top 20 markets.
Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce Committee is expected to approve legislation today12/4 that would delay FCC consideration of new media-ownership rules by at least six months.

Internet batte la radio come mezzo pubblicitario

Sempre più fosche le previsioni dei ricavi pubblicitari per le radio commerciali. Secondo Associated Press e International Herald Tribune, anche la britannica ZenithOptimedia conferma la tendenza al ribasso. Lo specialista ritiene che il prossimo anno la pubblicità su Internet supererà quella radiofonica su scala mondiale. Banner e affini andranno a sfiorare il 10 percento della spesa (9.4% per l'esattezza) mentre gli annunci pubblicitari radiofonici scivoleranno sotto quota 8%. La spesa pubblicitaria complessiva dovrebbe crescere di sei punti percentuali grazie agli effetti combinati di elezioni presidenziali USA, campionato di calcio e Olimpiadi. Ma per la radio ci sarà meno trippa, a meno - forse - di riuscire a gestire strategie integrate con il mondo online.

Internet ads will overtake global radio spending next year

Monday, December 3, 2007

NEW YORK: The Internet will overtake radio next year in its share of global advertising spending, a leading advertising forecaster predicted Monday.
ZenithOptimedia, a major advertising company based in England, said that the Internet's share of advertising would rise to 9.4 percent in 2008 from 8.1 percent this year, while radio's share of the ad market would slip to 7.9 percent from 8.2 percent.
Steve King, the CEO of ZenithOptimedia, told a media investor conference in New York that the company didn't expect an ad recession next year, despite a softening world economy, partly due to several events that are expected to boost ad spending: the U.S. presidential election, the Beijing Olympics, and the soccer championships in Europe.
All told, ZenithOptimedia now expects global advertising spending to grow 6.7 percent in 2008, an acceleration from the 5.3 percent rate that is expected in 2007.
King said he expected the "quadrennial" effect of the elections, Olympics and soccer championship to add about $6 billion (€4.09 billion) in advertising spending globally next year, accounting for most of the acceleration in ad spending growth.
Without that effect, King said, worldwide ad spending growth would remain roughly flat with this year, expanding at a rate of 5.4 percent.
King said that emerging markets such as central and eastern Europe and Asia excluding Japan had become the largest drivers of global advertising spending, compensating for slower growth in developed markets. King was speaking at an investor conference sponsored by UBS.
Another advertising forecaster, Bob Coen of Universal McCann, said he expected global advertising growth of 4.6 percent next year. However, Coen's forecast doesn't include paid search advertising on the Internet.

Guerra di onde sulla Corea del Nord

Per una volta non sono i missili o i bombardieri a essere utilizzati per cercare di cambiare le cose e la testa della gente. Gli USA ricorrono ancora alle care, vecchie, sdrucite onde corte per trasmettere verso la Corea del Nord i discorsi dei candidati e le discussioni della campagna per le elezioni presidenziali della Corea del Sud, con l'intenzione di far capire che cosa sia un dibattito democratico. In questo caso l'emittente è Open Radio for North Korea, creata nel 2005, che dichiara una frequenza di 9930 kHz.

US-Funded Radio to Air SKorea Speeches

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A U.S.-funded radio station was to begin broadcasting speeches and debates of leading South Korean presidential candidates into North Korea on Monday.
Open Radio for North Korea said it would transmit a recently taped speech by pro-government liberal candidate Chung Dong-young for four days starting Monday evening.
The station said in a statement that it would then broadcast a speech by front-runner Lee Myung-bak of the main opposition Grand National Park. Lee was once a regular target of North Korea, but Pyongyang has recently shifted its denunciations to independent candidate Lee Hoi-chang.
Both Lees have criticized the liberal government of outgoing President Roh Moo-hyun for being too soft on North Korea. Polls show them ahead of Chung in the Dec. 19 election.
The Seoul-based radio station also plans to air speeches of other presidential candidates to the tightly run communist state by using short-wave radio.
The radio programs "can make North Koreans have an interest in the South's election ... and North Koreans can learn how a policy decision is made in a democratic society," the broadcaster said.
Pyongyang has condemned outside radio broadcasts as part of a U.S. psychological campaign aimed at toppling the communist regime — a charge Washington denies.
North Koreans are officially banned from listening to outside news, so it was not clear how many people would be able to listen to the broadcasts. Radios in North Korea are fixed so only state programs can be heard.
Listening to radio broadcasts criticizing the regime is a severe offense that has previously landed people in the country's notorious prisons, although the North has apparently eased punishment in recent years, according to defectors.
A growing number of North Koreans, however, are listening to foreign news and communicating with the outside world, mostly using cell phones through Chinese communication networks, according to defectors who resettled in South Korea

Secondo il McClatchy Washington Bureau, sito dell'editore del Miami Herald e altri quotidiani, la ORNK, insieme a Free North Korea Radio e Radio Free Chosun, riceve 200 mila dollari annui dal National Endowment for Democracy una organizzazione non governativa no profit che viene però finanziata e supervisionata dal Congresso USA. Tra le attività del NED, dicono i detrattori, c'è anche il finanziamento sotterraneo di partiti politici esteri, con l'evidente scopo di influenzare sulle elezioni. Ma come ho avuto modo di dire in altre circostanze, almeno non si spara.
D'altro canto la Corea del Nord non si tira indietro quando si tratta di cercare di disturbare la ricezione delle onde corte, attività assai poco incoraggiata in una nazione dove ascoltare le radio straniere può portare in galera. Il Daily NK, centrale informativa Web sulle notizie riguardanti PyongYang, cita uno studio del North Asia Broadcasting Institute secondo cui della decina di stazioni americane, coreane e giapponesi che cercano di farsi sentire, molte se non tutte vengono regolarmente disturbate dai jammer.
E' guerra anche questa, intendiamoci, e può non essere condivisa sul piano politico. Ma è sempre meglio del cannone.

North Korea Jams Overseas Private Radio Broadcasts

By Namgung Min
[2007-11-05 01:39 ]

A study revealed that North Korea has been jamming private radio broadcasts from South Korea dedicated to listeners in North Korea.
Northeast Asian Broadcasting Institute, a private radio broadcasting agency, disclosed in the 10th issue of its monthly “Northeast Asian Broadcasting Study” that North Korea has been jamming most of the South Korean radio programs targeting North Korean listeners with the exception of “Global Korean Network” of Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), South Korea’s premier public broadcaster.
The list of radio stations which broadcast programs dedicated to North Korean people is as follows: Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, KBS’s Global Korean Network, Free North Korea, Open Radio for North Korea, Far East Broadcasting Company, North Korea Mission Radio, Shiokaze of Japan and Radio Free Chosun.
The Institute conducted its research by evaluating the shortwave radio reception of broadcasts dedicated to North Korean listeners from October 1st to the 7th. The study showed that almost all radio broadcasts targeting both North Korean listeners (i.e., VOA and RFA) and South Korean listeners (i.e., Central Chosun broadcasting station and Pyongyang Broadcast station) were experiencing radio signal jamming.
Global Korean Network of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) was the only program broadcasted without interference. It is a radio program aired on media-wave, so its frequency remains relatively unsusceptible to jamming. Moreover, recently the program greatly curtailed its contents specifically targeting North Korean people. Therefore, the institute argued that the North Korean authorities might have considered the program insignificant and so ignored it.
Since the North Korean authorities continue to jam overseas private radio broadcasts dedicated to North Korean people, it is important to come up with some countermeasures against the interference.
The number of North Koreans who listen to foreign radio broadcasts has been increasing particularly among the young people. Many defectors said that it was KBS Liberty Radio that came in sounded clearest. They said they have also heard of the radio programs VOA and Far East Broadcasting Company.
A defector, Kim Sung Chul, said, “Since 2000, the number of North Korean people who try to watch foreign films and listen to South Korean radio programs has greatly increased.” He added, “People use electrical wiring or antennas to receive a signal. It is hard for the North Korean authorities to stop the people from listening to radio even if they try to jam foreign radio broadcasts.”
Ha Tae Kyung, the head of Open Radio for North Korea said, “We need to use more radio frequencies to avoid North Korea’s jamming interference. However, many private radio stations dedicated to North Korean listeners have financial difficulties. We really need support from the South Korean government.”

Proprio dal sito del Neabi ho estratto la schedule delle trasmissioni occidentali rivolte verso l'isolata nazione asiatica:

B07 Schedule of Broadcast to the North Korea
2007. 10. 28 until 2008. 3. 29
All Times UTC, Frequency is kHz.

* Voice of America - Korean Service
1200-1500 5890, 7235, 9555
(1300-1400 648)
1900-2100 6060, 7110, 7135

* Radio Free Asia - Korean Service
1500-1700 5860, 7210, 9385
1700-1900 5860, 9385
2100-2200 5835, 7460, 9385

* Free North Korea Radio
1000-1100 9730
2030-2130 9645

* Open Radio for North Korea
1100-1200 9930(Mon-Fri)

* Radio Free Chosun
1330-1400 9950

* CMI / Voice of Wilderness
(before. North Korea Mission Radio)
1300-1330 9940
2000-2030 9795

* Furusato no Kaze / Nihon no Kaze
1600-1630 9780(Japanese)
1700-1730 9820(Korean)

* JSR Shiokaze(Sea Breeze)
1400-1430 5985
2030-2100 5965

La miglior Internet Radio? Il telefonino (Nokia)

Ormai è del tutto evidente che la strategia dei costruttori di terminali tascabili (in primis il telefonino, ma ormai solo i lettorini MP3 sono rimasti privi di connettività 3G o Wi-Fi) è quella di concentrare su un un singolo apparato ogni sorta di funzionalità per la comunicazione, la messaggistica, la produttività personale e lo svago. Nokia ha lanciato ieri la beta di un client per ambiente Symbian S60 3rd Edition che trasforma il cellulare (i modelli compatibili sono l'N82, 91 e 95) in una Internet Radio capace di ricevere le stazioni via Web da tutto il mondo. Nokia ha messo a punto anche un server software speciale per ottimizzare lo streaming e invita le Web radio a registarsi sul portale. Resta da vedere quanto verrebbe a costare a noi l'ascolto delle Web station via HSDPA...
Dal sito Nokia Music si accede anche a una sezione Podcasting dove è possibile scaricare un altro software per la produzione e l'upload di materiali sonori, al Nokia Music Store nonché alla pagina dedicata alla tecnologia Nokia VisualRadio, la piattaforma di integrazione tra stazioni FM e messaggistica di servizio trasmessa attraverso le infrastrutture telefoniche.
Le quali infrastrutture - leggi gli operatori - somigliano sempre più a quegli equilibristi sospesi sulle cascate del Niagara: mentre gli handset maker sfornano gioiellini capaci di fare di tutto e anche di più, i poveri tapini strillano che devono essere loro a decidere quello che gli abbonati possono o non possono fare. Intorno a loro crollano tutti i muri possibili, ma quello che circonda il giardinetto dei loro servizi a valore aggiunto è sempre in piedi. Anche se ormai è un colabrodo il cui collante principale è rappresentato da assurde tariffe per il trasporto di dati. Quand'è che si accorgeranno di quello che sta accadendo là fuori? Quando sarà troppo tardi per loro, temo.

Discover new music with Nokia Internet Radio
December 03, 2007

Radio stations broadcast over the internet to your mobile

Espoo, Finland - Discover and listen to radio shows broadcasted over the internet with the Nokia Internet Radio service now available. The application can be downloaded for free from http://www.nokia.com/internetradio and will also be embedded in upcoming Nokia S60 3rd edition devices.

"Most new music discovery occurs while you're listening to the radio," said Tommi Mustonen, head of the Nokia music business. "By offering the Nokia Internet Radio service on mobile devices, the radio experience becomes more accessible, giving people new ways to find music."

With hundreds of internet radio stations to choose from worldwide, the station directory of Nokia Internet Radio makes music discovery effortless - browsing can be done based on station name, genre, country or language. To find out what hits are hot around the world, hourly updates of the top ten most popular internet radio stations are also available in the station directory. Plus, there is no need to search for your top stations time and again because adding them to the list of 'Favorites' makes them easily accessible.

Moreover, the audio quality is enhanced by selecting appropriate streaming servers that match the speed of the current network connection.

The Nokia Internet Radio application is currently available for download to the following devices: Nokia N82, Nokia N91, Nokia N95 and Nokia N95 8GB. The application is planned to be available later on further devices and will be embedded in selected upcoming Nokia S60 3rd edition devices. Please visit http://www.nokia.com/internetradio for the list of the latest compatible devices.

HD Radio tra stampa tradizionale e blogger

E' difficile non sospettare che il pezzo apparso in questi giorni sul Winston-Salem Journal (North Carolina) non sia almeno in parte il risultato dei milioni di dollari investiti dalla HD Radio Alliance nella campagna di promozione del nuovo sistema di radio digitale americano. Devo però ammettere che l'articolo di Tim Clodfelter è in realta molto completo ed equilibrato. La parola viene equamente ceduta a un ascoltatore entusiasta (talmente entusiasta e blog-munito da far pensare per davvero a un viral marketing intenzionale) e a scettici come Greg Smith, del blog HD Radio Farce, e Paul Vincent Zecchino, velenosa penna anti-IBOC e abituale frequentatore dei newsgroup radiospecializzati USA.
Le osservazioni sulla qualità dell'audio generato da una stazione FM digitale ibrida ("riesco a sentire il rumore dei fogli di carta dell'annunciatore", dice l'entusiasta) lasciano un poco perplessi, senza voler toglere nulla ad IBOC e alle sue codifiche. Ma l'autore merita un plauso per aver messo ben in evidenza la questione dell'AM digitale ibrido e i problemi di interferenza sulle stazioni non digitali. In definitiva è un altro sintomo di una discussione che come un'onda di marea ancora lontana sta salendo lentamente. Meglio così, perché farebbe davvero paura una tecnologia imposta dall'alto, nel sostanziale silenzio dei suoi fruitori.

Clearly Different: As broadcasters go HD they're hoping radio listeners will jump on the trend

By Tim Clodfelter
Monday, December 3, 2007


(Journal graphic by Richard Boyd II)

When Mike Walker heard about the new digital HD Radio format several years ago, he was intrigued. But living in Wilkes County, in a valley where radio reception from the Triad and Charlotte is spotty, he didn’t know if it would work for him.
“I like to have the newest toy when it comes out,” he said. “And a year ago, I was really anxious to get an HD Radio, but I wasn’t sure.”
Then, in the post-Thanksgiving “Black Friday” sale ads last year, he saw a big discount on an HD Radio and decided to take the plunge. He’s happy that he did.
“The thing that surprised me is, I thought FM radio was the gold standard for what radio could sound like,” he said. “But there was a layer of noise on FM I never had noticed before it was missing. (On HD Radio) you can hear the rustling of the paper when the news anchor changes paper, or hear it when he takes a sip of coffee. On a classical station, you can hear the individual instruments. It’s like a layer of gauze has been removed.”
He has become such a fan that he now writes a blog about HD Radio(hearitseeit.blogspot.com).
With all the attention being paid to high-definition television, many people are still unaware of HD Radio. But that is changing, as a growing number of radio stations around the country - including 10 in the Triad - make the move to HD Radio.
And no, the HD doesn’t stand for “High Definition,” as it does in HDTV; instead, the name stands for “Hybrid Digital,” named because it broadcasts CD-quality digital audio simultaneously with the traditional analog audio. The digital signal goes out on the same frequency as the station’s traditional radio signal. Like HDTV, the signal doesn’t have any static or audio distortion.
The digital signal can also carry text data, such as traffic reports, stock information and information on song titles that come up on the radio. An HD receiver is required to pick up the signal.
Using HD Radio, FM radio stations can simultaneously broadcast one, two or three digital radio stations on a single frequency. In most cases - including the 10 stations currently broadcasting HD Radio in the Triad - the first channel is a clone of the traditional over-the-air radio station. Other channels, if they are used at all, usually carry more eclectic programming. AM stations can broadcast in HD, but they do not have sufficient bandwidth for multiple stations. FM broadcasts on HD Radio have CD-quality sound, and AM broadcasts have FM-quality sound.
The first HD broadcasts started in 2003, and the number of stations has been growing steadily. There are now more than 1,500 AM and FM stations broadcasting in HD around the country, and more than 700 FM stations offer multiple channels. It is not clear how many listeners HD Radio is drawing, but as prices of HD receivers drop the numbers are expected to grow.
Unlike satellite radio, HD Radio is free once you purchase the radio. Prices for the radios average $150 to $200. A recent search at local stores turned up a few HD Radios at large stores such as Best Buy and Circuit City. Radio Shack did not have any in stock, but they can be special ordered.
According to iBiquity Digital Corporation, the company that developed HD Radio, about 500,000 receivers will have been sold nationwide by the end of 2007.
HD Radio may one day take over the airwaves, the way digital TV will take over analog TV in 2009. But there are no firm plans for a government-mandated transition; currently, this is simply another way for radio stations to reach their audiences.
“This is something that a group of major broadcast companies have all banded together and backed,” said Brian Douglas, the operations manager at Entercom Communication’s Greensboro division, which owns radio stations WPAW, WJMH, WQMG and WSMW. “It’s been building a head of steam for years now.”
In the Triad, Entercom, Clear Channel Radio (which owns radio stations WGBT, WMAG, WMKS, WVBZ and WTQR), and Wake Forest University (which runs NPR affiliate WFDD) have started HD radio channels.
Bruce Wheeler, the vice president and general manager of WKZL and Rock 92, said his stations have not made the transition yet. “We’re excited about HD, and we’re budgeting for the transmitters,” he said. But he’s not sure when his stations will make the move. “I think it depends largely on how inexpensive the receivers become, and whether people will be willing to pay a price to have a clearer signal.”
No AM stations in the Triad have made the jump to HD, but Brian Freeman, the program director at WSJS - the largest AM station in the market - said that his company is keeping an eye on the developing format.
“There is a curve between when a broadcast technology is available to the public and when it’s readily receivable,” he said. “Just in the last few years, satellite radio has become an option in cars.
“There may be a five- to 10-year curve before we see HD receivers (as standard options) in cars and home-stereo units.”
It costs about $100,000 for each station to upgrade to HD. Right now, to increase awareness and support, stations are encouraged by the HD Digital Radio Alliance - a consortium of companies that own radio stations in about 80 percent of U.S. markets - to run commercial-free programming on their secondary HD channels.
“In any new media, there’s going to be a rollout time,” Douglas said. “Right now, it’s not going to get a cash return, but we’re making an investment in something that is taking FM stations in the market to another level.”
The amount of money required to start broadcasting in HD - and the havoc that the signals can cause to stations without HD - worries some radio enthusiasts.
Greg Smith, a radio buff from Maryland, started a blog called “HD Radio Farce” (hdradiofarce.blogspot.com) because he feels that large radio broadcast groups such as Clear Channel and CBS are pushing the HD format. But smaller stations - especially AM stations - can’t afford the upgrade, especially with no return on the investment in the near future.
Plus, he said in an e-mail, HD Radio AM signals from large stations can cause distortion in non-HD AM signals from stations that are close together. In his blog, he is also skeptical about the public’s interest in the format.
“I’d gladly support HD Radio, but for the fact (that it) jams other stations,” wrote Paul V. Zecchino, another blogger from Florida, in an e-mail interview. HD promoters, he said, “heatedly deny their system interferes, while at other times they plainly state HD’s jamming will ‘thin the herd’ of useless radio stations - in their opinion.”
The jamming problem arises when an AM station with HD Radio is very close to another AM station on the radio dial. In Boston, for instance, WYSL 1040-AM has complained about signal distortion caused by HD-AM broadcasts from WBZ 1030-AM.
In the Triad, there are 10 FM stations broadcasting 20 channels. The second channel is generally a variation on the channel’s dominant format. For instance, WJMH, an urban station, has old school hip-hop on its second digital channel; WMAG, an easy-listening station, has smooth jazz on its second channel; and WFDD has classical music for its second channel.
That move may appease fans of WFDD’s old format, which had a mix of classical and NPR news programming. Denise Franklin, the station manager at WFDD, said that response has been very positive. “Some listeners have said ‘I’ve been waiting for this,’” she said. “Others have said ‘I didn’t know about this technology, but it sounds very cool. I need to learn more.’ We have had still other listeners thanking us for programming WFDD-2 with classical music and have said they were headed out to buy an HD Radio.”
In January, WFDD will add a third HD channel, which will feature what the station refers to as “an eclectic blend of world music, roots and traditional music, and music from local artists.” The third channel will also offer highlights from local college radio stations. “We’re working with area colleges on putting their best programming onto WFDD-3,” Franklin said.
WFDD got matching grants, one from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the other from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to help its transition to digital technology.
“This is on our part an investment, both from the technological standpoint and the public-service standpoint,” Franklin said. “It basically turns us from one radio station into three starting in January.”
WFDD has no plans for separate fundraisers for the HD channels, but will carry its standard fundraisers on the HD Radio channel WFDD-1 at the same time it carries them on the analog radio broadcasts. The shows on WFDD-2 and WFDD-3 will have sponsors from time to time, much like shows on WFDD-1 have.
“The fact is that we live in a digital world today,” said a spokesperson for the HD Digital Radio Alliance. “Radio is the last medium to not go digital. It’s what consumers expect; they expect their audio to be digital…. It’s something the industry believes will pan out in the future.”

Ofcom e frequenze olimpiche

Con oltre quattro anni e mezzo di anticipo sulle Olimpiadi di Londra del 2012 il regolatore britannico Ofcom ci dà un'altra lezione di politica delle risorse spettrali. E' un caso molto specifico ma ancora una volta c'è da rimanere sorpresi davanti alla professionalità e alla lungimiranza di una authority che ha appena pubblicato il testo della sua indagine intitolata "Spectrum planning for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games". Le parti interessate avranno qualche mese di tempo per sottoporre il loro parere a Ofcom, che a sua volta dovrà decidere su questioni di governance dell'uso di uno spettro molto ampio. Il documento inquadra la problematica olimpica in un duplice contesto. Un aspetto riguarda le radiocomunicazioni personali (Professional Mobile Radio), l'altro, non meno critico, coincide con le necessità per così dire micro-infrastrutturali dei broadcaster che dovranno servirsi di connessioni wireless per la raccolta (ENG, electronic news gathering) di una miriade di flussi video e audio generati dai punti di ripresa e commento radiotelevisivo. Non a caso il testo preparatorio è ricco di riferimenti alle normative europee (ECC) in materia di microfoni a radiofrequenza, link audiovideo (nel 2012 l'alta definizione sarà una realtà consolidata e ogni link occuperà ben 10 MHz) e altri ambiti applicativi. Nella nostra ottica un po' asfittica e provinciale, la lettura di Spectrum planning è, come spesso succede quando si tratta di Ofcom, abbastanza umiliante. Forse può anche essere considerato un eccesso di zelo regolatorio. Ma dal mio punto di vista è soprattutto un manuale procedurale e va ad aggiungersi a una libreria che dalle nostri parti, in questo piccolo Far West dell'anarchia "creativa" applicata alla radiofrequenza (e non solo), prima o poi impareremo a compulsare.

La radio ripetitiva aiuta a vendere?

Sulla scia della discussione relativa alla user generated radio si innesta questo eccellente articolo del New York Times che accusa le stazioni americane di ripetitività che ormai sfiora l'ossessione. Un brano come "Apologize" (immagino che il gioco di parole sia involontario) degli OneRepublic è stata trasmessa 123 volte in una settimana da WIOQ-FM Philadelphia, una volta ogni 50 minuti. Apologize ha frantumato ogni record di ripetizioni dall'introduzione del monitoraggio computerizzato (1990). La canzone è stata trasmessa più di 10.200 volte. Il quotidiano newyorkese dice che non c'è poi da stupirsi se l'audience radiofonica sia in perenne contrazione. E tira in ballo i consulenti che affermano: la radio regisce con la paura e quindi con l'ossessione all'attacco subito da Internet e dalla musica MP3. Ma i radiofonici rispondono che è solo un inevitabile adattamento alla contrazione subita dal tempo di cui tutti noi disponiamo: chi ascolta la radio 15 minuti al giorno deve avere le stesse chance di incappare in Apoligize. Continuando così, controribattono la radio non andrà da nessuna parte. Ci sarà sempre una quota di pubblico pronta ad accettare ciò che le stazioni propinano, ma inevitabilmente crescerà quella delle persone che preferiscono costruire da sole la propria offerta mediatica.
Tra i due litiganti emerge però un dato che dovrebbe essere tranquillizzante: la radio è ancora il mezzo più efficace quando si tratta di promuovere un gruppo musicale. Anche se forse le cose non sono poi così lineari. L'album degli OneRepublic, Dreaming out loud ha venduto al suo debutto 75 mila copie nella prima settimana. Ma Apologize, che sull'album è una traccia nascosta, grazie forse al battage radiofonico ha venduto 140 mila copie nell'ultima settimana come singolo nei negozi online come iTunes. Gli stessi OneRepublic devono il loro rilancio con una nuova etichetta alla popolarità raggiunta con MySpace.

Radio’s Newest Strategy: Play a Hit, Again and Again
By JEFF LEEDS

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30 — For the millions of Americans who listened to Top 40 radio last week, it was almost impossible to miss “Apologize,” the string-tinged elegy performed by the modern rock band OneRepublic and remixed by the eclectic producer Timbaland.
WIOQ-FM, a pop station in Philadelphia, played the song 123 times last week, letting as little as 50 minutes tick by between repeat spins. And this month, “Apologize” broke the record for the most plays of a song on the nation’s Top 40 stations in a single week since computerized tracking began in 1990. The song played more than 10,240 times in a week, reaching an estimated audience of more than 70 million listeners, according to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, an airplay monitoring service, and the chart-keepers at Radio & Records, a music trade magazine.
The song’s success is more than yet another sign of Timbaland’s prowess — it’s the third hit from his latest album, “Timbaland Presents Shock Value” (Interscope), a compilation of genre-bending collaborations with everyone from Elton John to Fall Out Boy.
It’s also a sign of how radio stations are responding to the competition for listeners as radio’s audience fragments and rival entertainment choices abound. While the overwhelming majority of Americans still tune into traditional broadcast radio each week, they are listening less. And they are increasingly drawn to the dizzying choices of music and other programming available on iPods and satellite and Internet radio.
But many pop radio programmers appear keen to repeat the biggest hits as much as — or more than — ever. “Apologize” surpassed a record that had been set only in July by Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” according to the data. Of the 10 songs that have notched the most plays in one week, 8 joined the list in the last three years. And the oldest of the 10, Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” dates only to 2002. (The all-time most-played song across all radio formats is Santana’s “Smooth,” with more than 1.1 million total plays since it was released in 1999.)
Tom Owens, the executive vice president of content for Clear Channel Communications, which is the nation’s largest owner of radio stations and a big influence in the Top 40 format, said that “Apologize” deserved such heavy airplay because it had received “off the charts” results in listener research testing, and added that the song is devoid of content that might prompt more conservative pop stations to limit its airplay. Mr. Owens also said that Radio & Records and tracking services are counting slightly more stations than they used to, making it easier for big songs to break the record.
Even so, executives at some individual stations say they are playing hits more heavily than they did even two years ago. That is not so much out of concern over digital competition as it is a desire to respond to listeners’ busy lives, said Kat Jensen, music director for KKMG-FM in Colorado Springs, which played “Apologize” 78 times last week. “There’s a very limited window. If they’re going to listen 15 minutes a day, you want to make sure they hear their favorite song in that 15 minutes. It’s really the fast-paced life style that we all live.”
Many stations are also trying to keep up with listeners — and trying to draw new ones — by integrating their over-the-air broadcasts with social networks on their Web sites and other online features. But that comes against a backdrop of an eroding audience. The amount of time people tune into radio during the course of a week has fallen by about 13 percent during the last decade, according to data from Arbitron, which measures ratings for the radio industry.
Some analysts say that responding to the decline by repeating the big hits even more will set broadcasters on a path to losing listeners.
“What most of these folks do is retreat to a more safe position, and in radio, the safer position is to play fewer songs more often,” said Mike Henry, chief executive of Paragon Media Strategies, a consulting firm in Denver. Mr. Henry, whose firm helped develop a wide-ranging radio format known as Jack FM in the United States three years ago, added that the increase in plays of songs reflected “a fear-based response. That will only take you so far.”
While, “there will always be people who are just fine taking what they’re given,” Mr. Henry said, more and more people will be enticed by “programming their own media.”
For now, however, radio is regarded as the most powerful promotional tool when it comes to exposing new music — even if the connection between popularity on the airwaves and popularity in record shops is not as direct as it once was. OneRepublic’s album, “Dreaming Out Loud” (Interscope), sold roughly 75,000 copies in its first week on sale, a solid if less than remarkable debut. But the “Apologize” remix, which is included as a hidden track on the album, brought in sales of more than 140,000 copies on digital services like iTunes for the week that ended Nov. 25, for a total of almost 1.6 million copies of the song.
Not a bad comeback for OneRepublic, which was formed by high school friends in Colorado Springs and suffered through a near-miss with fame — including losing its previous record deal with Columbia Records — before the band’s popularity on MySpace helped it land a new contract with Timbaland’s imprint, Mosley Music Group, which is distributed through Interscope. “Even though radio does seem like it’s kind of an archaic behemoth, in terms of actually being able to pay the bills, it’s still one of the best ways,” said Greg Wells, the longtime producer who oversaw “Dreaming Out Loud.” “I’m aware of how fickle this kind of attention can be. Songs like that are rare for anybody.”

Il guru del DX e la radio digitale

Il contatore di Blogger mi dice che questo è il millesimo post su Radiopassioni. Ho pensato che per l'occasione fosse appropriata la segnalazione di un libro di Giuseppe Zella intitolato La radio digitale, uscito recentemente per l'editore Sandit. Per certi versi il fatto che Giuseppe presti la sua prolifica e autorevole penna all'argomento delle modulazioni numeriche ha più di un tratto millenaristico. Un segno che nell'hobby della radio sono cambiate tante cose.

Quello di Giuseppe Zella è un nome che ha segnato profondamente le vicende dell'hobby del radioascolto broadcast più impegnato, il DXing, qui in Italia, a partire dalla seconda metà degli anni Sessanta. Giuseppe fece parte del piccolo gruppo riunito intorno alla Short Wave Review di Elio Fior, a quanto ne so il primo bollettino ("ciclostilato") che in Italia pubblicava notizie sull'ascolto di emittenti locali extraeuropee in banda tropicale e, udite udite, onde medie. A differenza di molti di noi che le radio si limitano a comprarsele, Giuseppe è un autocostruttore nato, sempre curioso di sperimentare i circuiti più avanzati dell'elettronica (allora) analogica e lineare. La sua firma su un testo intitolato La radio digitale mi fa una grande impressione. Ma non voglio essere frainteso: non ho nessun dubbio sulla qualità dei contenuti e spero di procurarmi quanto prima una copia. Non ricordo di aver letto da Giuseppe qualcosa che fosse privo di interesse o di spunti stimolanti.
Dalla scheda pubblicata sul catologo online dell'editore apprendo che "La radio digitale" riguarda tematiche come "tecniche di compressione audio - radio digitale - eureka 147 - DAB - Digital Radio Mondiale - Digital Multimedia Broadcasting - ISDB-T - ISDB-S - IBOC - HD RADIO. Il volume prende in esame tutti gli attuali standard di radio digitale terrestre e satellitare utilizzati a livello mondiale, i loro pregi, difetti, le tecnologie ed i settori di utilizzo, proponendo anche un'analisi delle tecniche di compressione dell'audio, applicate alla radiodiffusione" numerica. Costo 19 euro e 50, 252 pagine.

Onde africane libere

Onde di libertà, manifestazione biennale organizzata a Bamako dal governo maliano con la collaborazione di Unesco e altri organismi è arrivata alla sesta edizione e si sta svolgendo in queste ore nella capitale del Mali. Tema principale di discussione quest'anno è il ruolo della radio nella lotta all'AIDS. Ondes de liberté riunisce i rappresentanti di molte radio, pubbliche e comunitarie, africane. In Mali per esempio trasmettono circa duecento stazioni.

La notizia viene data da AFP, ma comprensibilmente non sono riuscito a trovare siti Web ufficiali aggiornati. Riporto qui i materiali raccolti da Mediamali.org in occasione dell'edizione 2003.

La 6e édition du festival biennal de radios africaines "Ondes de liberté" s'est ouverte samedi à Bamako en présence de plusieurs radio-diffuseurs du continent autour du thème "Radio et lutte contre le sida".

La cérémonie d'ouverture s'est déroulée en présence du chef de l'Etat malien Amadou Toumani Touré, et de la ministre malienne de la Communication et des Nouvelles technologies, Mme Flantié Diallo Diarra, qui a souligné devant la presse le rôle important de la radio dans la sensibilisation sur le VIH-sida.
"Dans nos sociétés de tradition orale, la radio conserve un rôle polyvalent. Elle informe, éduque, mobilise et sensibilise. C'est pourquoi elle peut-être un puissant vecteur pour la lutte contre le sida", a estimé Mme Diarra.
Selon les organisateurs, des professionnels représentant une vingtaine de radios privées d'Afrique prennent part à l'édition 2007 de ce festival visant à célébrer le "pluralisme radiophonique" sur le contient.
Les participants sont notamment venus du Togo, du Burkina Faso, du Bénin, de la Côte d'Ivoire, de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) et du Sénégal. Les manifestations prévues incluent une bourse d'échange de programmes, un concours radiophonique, ainsi que des expositions en stands.
Le festival "Ondes de libertés", qui se tient tous les deux ans, est organisé par le gouvernement malien, avec l'appui d'institutions et organisations comme l'Unesco, l'Union des radios et télévisions du Mali (Urtel), et l'Institut Panos Afrique de l'ouest (IPAO).

Vocalo.org, siete voi a fare le trasmissioni

Il post sulla User Generated Radio ha spinto Andrea Borgnino a fare qualche ricerca. «Ho scoperto che c'è uno show in America fatto proprio con un'idea» di questo genere, mi scrive Andrea, partendo da un articolo di Time Out Chicago che nel dicembre dell'anno scorso annunciava un progetto di WBEZ, stazione del micro network locale Chicago Public Radio. Quel progetto è partito per davvero e si chiama Vocalo.org, un sito Web comunitario che funge da collettore di materiali sonori autoprodotti. Che servono poi a comporre il palinsesto di WBEW uno dei tre canali di WBEZ ascoltabile su 89.5 in FM nell'hinterland della città. Il Web diventa insomma una redazione virtuale di produttori radiofonici che fanno tutti da soli, creando un nuovo flusso diffuso anche nell'etere di Chicago. Obiettivo dichiarato degli ideatori di Vocalo è proprio quello di catalizzare l'attenzione di una fascia di utenza non-bianca e poco affluente che snobbava le trasmissioni tradizionali. Oltre all'articolo di Time Out scritto 12 mesi fa, è interessante leggere quello che scrive dell'esperienza di Vocalo la rivista Beep Central nel settembre 2007. Antonio, dicci qualcosa.

A radio revolution: Public Radio turns the airwaves over to you

Lisa Balde, Beep Staff Writer Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Someone just took a punch to the face by a middle-aged Las Vegas woman in some club off the strip, and it isn’t even noon yet. Here’s how it goes down from my end of the Web stream: A listener named Liz, a recent Vegas transplant from Chicago, isn’t down yet. She recovers from the hit and grimaces slightly before looking back at her instigator and smiles. A raucous melee of headband pulling and scarf choking is about to erupt, but Liz doesn’t seem to mind. “I don’t care,” she says. “I’ve been punched before.”
She tries to explain her situation – a lost or possibly stolen wallet that might’ve fallen near the DJ’s karaoke booth – when the Vegas woman, a karaoke diehard who now assumes that Liz is targeting the DJ as her thief, swings at her again. “That was it,” Liz tells her interviewer. “I hit her back.”
Welcome to the changing face of public radio – or rather, the antithesis of public radio’s rather stodgy modern image. It’s a progressive endeavor, one where listeners tend to hog a bit more airtime than hosts, where pledge drives – no matter how dire the financial circumstances – never exist, and where bar fights make for damn fine on-air fodder.
For anyone in the ’burbs with Internet access, this means welcome to Vocalo and Vocalo.org, Chicago Public Radio's new 24-hour interactive radio station and Web stream. It’s decidedly young, understatedly urban and wholly community-driven – assets that CPR admittedly can’t always provide. Sort of a radio YouTube meets Al Gore’s Current TV, Vocalo wants to subsist via content that listeners upload online. It’s a sort of two-way conversation that Vocalo communicates like this: Your telephone/cable modem is your microphone.

Hello, Beautiful

Inside Vocalo’s newly built studio at CPR’s plush Navy Pier digs, a fresh sort of chaotic energy fills the room like the first day of art school. Wendy Turner, Vocalo’s general manager, points out proof of the station’s constant change (noted are the sparkling pair of turn-table “12s” in the corner for a future DJ coffin and weekly DJ sets). A noticeably young, artsy band of hosts rounds the corner into the digital sound booth that looks more apt for Q101 than public radio. They seem genuinely excited to be here.
Vocalo hasn’t quite reached FM airwaves in Chicago, but if you’ve heard the station online or via 89.5 in Chesterton, Ind., it’s clear that these faces could be the leaders of local radio’s evolution and perhaps a facelift for the next generation of NPR.
But you’ll never hear those letters during a Vocalo broadcast – neither NPR’s acronym nor the words, “Chicago Public Radio.” Those labels don’t fit the new station’s mission, Turner says, and the big wigs upstairs don’t want people getting confused. For now, Vocalo’s job is to create a public community framed by original music, stories and spoken word uploaded by listeners. If it happens to wipe the slate clean of public-radio stereotypes, then so be it.
“It’s got this hardcore, absolutely clear purpose,” says Lloyd King, an artist and teacher (and coincidentally enough, a former teacher of Turner’s) who was hired as Vocalo’s content director this summer. “And that is to serve the public.”
But Vocalo’s public is different from NPR’s. Two years ago, when CPR obtained permission from the FCC to boost its signal to 50,000 watts (i.e. enough power to either double the coverage of its current broadcasts or create a whole new station), its president, Torey Malatia, realized a large section of Chicago and the ’burbs weren’t tuning in at all. Who were they missing? Basically, listeners who are young and non-white.
“We’re serving mostly white, lakefront liberals,” King says. “It’s in the 90 percentile. That’s who we are serving. All radio stations are supposed to serve the public, but because we’re a public radio station, we’re doubly obligated to serve, and we can’t just be serving the Chicago power elite, so to speak.”
They almost ended up with a 24-hour music station, but that plan shifted last year. More than a year later and just months into Vocalo’s official tenure, music remains a revolving feature but takes a shot-gun seat to features about … well, about you.

All together now

Bibiana Adames and Usama Alshaibi aren’t “radio people.” As in, they’ve never turned knobs on a station’s sound board or actually hosted a radio show. Respectively, they’re a clinical psychologist and award-winning filmmaker: Adames runs her own private practice, and Alshaibi traveled back to his Iraqi hometown in 2004 to film the documentary, “Nice Bombs.” They’re accomplished entrepreneurs, no doubt. But radio hosts?
“When they called me, they said, ‘Can you send us a demo?’ And I’m like, a demo? What’s a demo?” Adames says from Vocalo’s back-room meeting space, a very non-corporate board room sporting only a circle of chairs. “And I thought: ‘The only thing I know how to do is talk to people.’”
This newfound pair of friends and Vocalo hosts (talk with them long enough and they’ll feel like your two hilarious, bickering siblings) was hired this spring as part of an unlikely cast of characters that now includes a comedian, record producer, musician, writer and performance artist. According to their bios, only four of the station’s hosts have definitive radio experience.
Every day, the group converges in Vocalo’s studio in groups of three. Their format is simple: introduce as many interviews, sound clips, submitted beats and readings as fills the time and use them as a springboard to provoke conversation.
At the outset, the whole thing sounds a bit like college radio – times three. At any given time, a trio of hosts could be discussing graffiti, personal failures, love and money, Mos Def or Lily Allen. Interview snippets bridge the gap as a bulk of the programming, and amusing chats with the likes of “America’s Next Top Model” and the “protesters” outside of Al Gore’s Borders book signing pop up often. Alshaibi once listed himself on Craig’s List for a story, to explore the odd world of online sex-and-drugs advertising. He even got a few responses. (Yes, he turned them down – even the one from a guy offering to eat cake off him.)
It’s all unscripted and very freeform. There are no scheduled programs ala “Morning Edition” and no report sign-offs – none of that stuffy public-radio banter. But that’s exactly the way Turner wants it. In fact, that’s the reason why she didn’t hire typical “radio people.”
“The idea is to create this microcosm of the whole community that we’re trying to reach and then have them sort of infect each other with their own communities. It’s not just Brian in charge of bringing comedians to us; he’s in charge of making sure that all of us, Bibiana and Usama, are familiar with the comedy world. The same with Darleen being a DJ and a record label owner.”

Say what?

As of now, Vocalo is still in community-building mode. They’ve come a long way, especially for a journey that’s expected to take at least a year for the station to become mostly self-sustaining. Last month, more than 200 pieces of listener-uploaded content was used on air in some form, and every day, you’ll hear several new submissions.
“Sometimes it’s audio that users have submitted,” Turner says, “sometimes it’s music, sometimes its text that inspires; we have one poster that asks us questions about love and relationships, and it inspired a whole series on our station called ‘Ask Dr. Bibs,’ which is Bibiana.”
It begs the question, though: What about people who don’t have Internet access or don’t own recording equipment to submit sound? The answer: “Your telephone is your microphone.” CPR set it up so a phone call transmits into the type of sound that hosts use on air, which gives as many people as possible a level playing field.
And for those of us who feel a little shy about talking on the radio, we’ve got options. Every time a listener uploads something to Vocalo.org, he or she can choose whether or not theirs is a Web-only submission or content fit for broadcast. Turner and King hope Vocalo can become as much of an Internet community as a radio one, so they encourage video and photos as much sound. Oh, and by the way, everything you submit remains yours.
“Not only do you have the rights and you own it,” King says, “we won’t sell you out.”
Uploaders may hand over full broadcasting rights to Vocalo, though, which means the station’s producers can spruce it up or chunk it up to better fit the programming. But you also can submit your work “as is,” which denotes it to producers as sound that cannot be altered.
“Facebook will sell you out,” King says. “You put your stuff on YouTube, and they’ll screw you. They own it. There was just an article last week about this guy who’s supposed to be getting sued by Viacom because his YouTube video appeared on some show. And the irony is he (created) it.”

All things considered

It’s still unclear when Vocalo’s signal will have enough power to reach Chicago. CPR hopes to build a new radio tower in Chesterton either by the end of this year or early in 2008. At that time, most of the city and Chicago’s south suburbs will hear Vocalo loud and clear. Until then, they’re spreading the word the grassroots way – online and out on the streets. Expect to see Vocalo training sessions throughout the city during the winter.
“It’s a really exciting but also a daunting project,” Turner says, “because not only do we have to create a 24-7 operation that’s entirely local, that’s serving this mission, that’s interesting to listen to, that has a sound that doesn’t sound anything like NPR or what public radio’s used to. We also have to create an economic structure for it. Sure, if we could hire 150 people, no problem. But we have to create something that’s going to be here for 100 years and isn’t going to rely on startup funding forever.”
So far, Vocalo fits those criteria. And as long as the content keeps flowing, the signal keeps burning.
Back on the bar fight scene, some guy with a yellow inflatable guitar singing “Peaceful Easy Feeling” pushes Liz out of range for another punch. The tape dies down, and Bibiana and Usama sound pleased. After all, who doesn’t like a good bar fight in the morning?
“I like drama,” she tells Usama. “It makes for better radio.”