Maintain Your Tower Lights
The FCC recently issued a $1.13 million fine to (or, more specifically, entered into a “Consent Decree” with) a broadcast group for not properly monitoring and maintaining the lighting on a number of its towers. This is a reminder of how important stations’ tower lighting is, and how seriously the FCC takes violation of the [...]
UNC TV Exploring the Capabilities of Next Gen TV
Fred Engel is a seasoned technology leader in the Broadcast Industry, and CTO at UNC-TV. He is an expert in system design, project implementation, IT strategies and governance, and operations management for broadcast and professional media systems. UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina continues its work exploring the capabilities of NEXTGEN TV, particularly around [...]
The FCC Technological Advisory Council – Sharp as a TAC
The Federal Communications Commission’s Technological Advisory Council (TAC) might be one of the most interesting groups you’ve never heard of. In fact, it's been around for 21 years as an official advisory committee to the FCC, with a revolving membership of technical experts handpicked by the FCC from a number of technology-focused industries. As far [...]
EBU Studying 5G Broadcasting Feasibility
The EBU has been active in evaluating 3GPP based wireless solutions for broadcaster use cases. In 2014, EBU published a report, Delivery of Broadcast Content over LTE Networks, on the efficacy of LTE eMBMS technology for terrestrial free-to-air broadcasting. The report found that although LTE eMBMS, in theory, should be able to deliver broadcast television, [...]
Car Radios at the 2019 Automobility LA Show
The 2019 Automobility LA Show was held just before Thanksgiving, with thirty-four car manufacturers (in auto parlance, original equipment manufacturers or OEMs) displaying the latest and greatest in automobiles. While this show focused primarily on auto “reveals” (introduction of new models), powertrains, and advanced technologies like autonomous vehicles, it also offered an opportunity to assess [...]
FCC Provides Guidance on Updating IPAWS EAS Security Certificate
As all U.S. broadcasters should know by now, one of the security certificates used by FEMA’s IPAWS CAP feed (i.e., one issued by Federal Bridge Certification Authority) expired on November 8, 2019. Section 11.56 of the FCC Rules requires EAS Participants to “configure their systems to reject all CAP-formatted EAS messages that include an invalid [...]