Month: November 2021

According to an article by Alan Hughes, broadcasters can make a major contribution to reducing climate change.The transmission of radio signals requires the use of electricity. A lot of this electricity results in a lot of harmful CO2 emitted from power stations.Medium Frequency (MW) Amplitude Modulated (AM) broadcasting started in the 1920s and transmits a constant carrier as shown below which is characterised by significant loss of energy.

Modern semiconductor MF AM transmitters consume 1.22 times more electricity than the rated output power. This does not include the cooling of higher power transmitters and other opex costs.High Frequency (Short Wave) AM broadcasting emerged after MF AM. It consumes 1.389 times the electricity of the rated output. This band can cover from regions to whole continents and can be used for domestic or international coverage. Fading, distortion and noise can also be a problem.Very High Frequency Modulated (FM) in stereo started in 1961 and can cover a city or, if radiated from a high tower at high power, even a region.Each of the above analogue broadcasting systems can only carry one program per transmitter.Ultra and Super High Frequencies are used by mobile internet. The Telco’s business model is based on monetising each service. High speed 5G uses the 27 GHz band and higher, which requires repeaters 900m apart, which gives a coverage area of 2.5 km². Slower 5G and older generations use around 1GHz which can cover around 300 km². So, this requires huge numbers of air-conditioned base stations to cover regions without black spots while using lots of electricity. Some of the electricity is anyway lost on the long power lines.The newest option is to use Digital Radio Mondiale for all frequency bands above and below 30 MHz: LW, SW, MW and VHF bands I, II-FM and III.If a DRM transmitter in the VHF band is carrying three programmes, then the electricity consumption must be divided by three making it 19 % of an FM transmitter carrying the same program. The same transmitter feed with a 6-channel modulator for 6 consecutive transmission frequencies, the electricity consumption per program will decrease even more.The environment Government department or electricity supplier in each country or region can give you the coefficient required to convert the electrical energy used in a year to the number of tonnes of CO2 produced in a year. This coefficient will be near zero for hydro power, rising significantly for brown coal fired power stations.DRM broadcasting overcomes the AM reception problems, giving clear stereo sound and data. It can provide continuous decoded signals to the equivalent of unlistenable AM listening.It should be remembered that most transmitters are operated nearly continuously, whereas receivers are only operated when the listener wants to. However, DRM receivers have a standby mode to decode just enough data to detect an Emergency Warning Message, which will wake the receiver, select the warning message, emit a warning signal to wake the listener and then announce the warning loudly. Also, it will switch on the screen so that a map of the disaster and any detailed instructions can be viewed.DRM also has TPEG navigation capability for instructing vehicle navigation systems to avoid roads closed by the police as the result of a disaster, saving lives or blockages reducing vehicle energy consumption. ES 201 980 – V4.2.1 – Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); System Specification (etsi.org)Since the telcos switch off their oldest technology every 8 years, after 60 years of FM stereo and 100 years for AM, isn’t it time broadcast radio went DRM with the most energy efficient distribution system to compete with the digital being used by the telcos, which produces more carbon dioxide as does AM and FM.To check the energy savings and compare analogue and digital you might find the recently published DRM energy efficiency calculator very useful: https://www.drm.org/energy-efficiency-calculator/  […]

Music streaming company Spotify has announced that it is making a new Lyrics feature available to all free and global users across all platforms.The feature was previously only offered to a limited selection of countries. Users in other markets only had access to “Behind the Lyrics,” a feature which offered lyrics interspersed with trivia about the song, its meaning, the artist and other commentary.Lyrics is provided by Musixmatch, which claims to have a library of “over 8 million” titles.

Lyrics will be available on all operating systems and devices that support the Spotify app, including iOS, Android, desktop computers, gaming consoles and smart TVs. Additionally, users have the ability to share lyrics on social media.“Lyrics are one of the most requested features from listeners across the globe. So after iterating and testing, we’ve created an experience that’s simple and interactive—and even shareable,” the company wrote in a blog post. “By partnering with Musixmatch, we’re bringing song lyrics to life through in-app access across the majority of our extensive library of tracks.”To access the feature:On the Spotify mobile app
Tap on the “Now Playing View” on a song.
While listening, swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
You’ll see track lyrics that scroll in real time as the song is playing!
To share, simply tap the “Share” button at the bottom of the lyrics screen and then select the lyrics you want to share—and where you want to share it—via third-party platforms.
On the Spotify desktop app
From the “Now Playing” bar, click on the microphone icon while a song is playing.
Voila! You’ll see track lyrics that scroll in real time while the song plays.
On the SpotifyTV app
Open the “Now Playing View” on a song.
Navigate to the right corner to the “lyrics button” and select if you want to enable Lyrics.
Once enabled, you’ll see the lyrics in the “Now Playing” View. […]

Content from BPROne of Radio’s unique benefits is localism…. local branding and local focus. Radio stations named after local landmarks, cities and regions are often lost in the rush to adopt corporate branding. The most important part of this is whether the gain for the corporation is greater than the loss of the local relationship.Like many industries, the evolution and growth of media and radio follows a fairly predictable pattern.

Starting from small beginnings, a single station in a single market builds relationships, brand value and an audience. At some point along this journey, the company focusses on a path to growth building a stronger brand joined together by listener and advertiser loyalty.Because the entry point for Radio and television ownership is limited by regulation – licenses approved or bought subject to regulatory approvals. Over time, strict ownership regulations have been relaxed and industries move from a highly regulated stage to an unregulated one.Deregulation often sees the emergence of companies whose primary goal is to build scale through acquisition.Building business via acquisition has enormous appeal – one of which is to enjoy economies of scale (sharing resources in making products and selling them) – we see this working in industries like hotels, travel, airlines banking, brewing and media… the consolidated business enjoys the simplicity of a single brand that can be accessed almost everywhere. Think Sheraton Hotels, etc.In some case’s corporate brewing owners have retained local brand affiliations, VB (Victoria Bitter) Castlemaine XXXX (Queensland) and Swan (a West Australian beer brewed in South Australia!). Despite these brands being retained, locally focused craft beer increasingly attracts local loyalties.Radio has its own examples where the corporate need has undermined listener connection – in this process, personal connection is replaced by corporate ‘product-isation’…  as an example, in 2015 iconic contemporary music station B105, (where the B stands for Brisbane) became Hit 105 broadly coinciding with loss of market leadership …. In 2020 B105 was brought back. More recently Sea FM on the Gold Coast has re-appeared.In the UK ‘local’ radio station names were superseded by National brands – locally named stations becoming Capital or Heart, Hits or Greatest Hits. Good for national revenue but bad for local listener connections. According to a recent Ofcom report, consumption of broadcast radio continues to decline in the UK, are these connected?There are many examples just like these where the relationship is lost sometimes forever and often for dubious corporate gain. So, before you take a decision to drop, change or modify successful branding that could change the relationship between you, your brand (and your career) stop for a moment and consider whether there is a benefit to your listeners that will be clear and beneficial.By Peter Don, BPR […]