I thought I’d take a few moments to explore the current trends and development in Terrestrial Broadcasting, AKA AM, FM, TV, and Shortwave.
Clear Channel Communications RIFs employees
We are all aware of the “reduction in force” or RIF (a term used by the US armed forces in the mid-1990s), as it is called by Clear Channel Broadcasting. One could also call it the iUnheartEmployees program. Small and medium market stations bore the brunt of these reductions, although major markets were not immune either. According to Clear Channel, this will “deliver a much better product to listeners than we have in the past.” Also, they plan to “generate higher ratings for our advertisers and marketing partners and give our best people bigger roles.” Of course, the definition of “much better product,” is subjective and depends on one’s point of view.
In addition to that, the Brand Management Teams indicate the inception of nationwide network radio or at least nationwide radio format standardization, which is almost the same thing. This trend will further eliminate the need for local program directors, local news, and local anything. With greater commitments to iHeartRadio and the hiring of Bob Pittman as CEO, expect more in the way of new media, internet distribution, and so on, possibly at the expense of terrestrial radio transmission.
Clear Channel owns approximately 850 of the nation’s 11,293 commercial AM and FM radio stations.
Cumulus-Citadel merger
We are also aware of the Cumulus-Citadel deal, which leaves one less large company on the field and greatly improves Cumulus’s major market presence. In addition to several radio stations, Cumulus also acquires what used to be ABC radio networks and satellite distribution systems. Prior to the merger, Citadel had several satellite radio formats ranging from Top 40/CHR to 24/7 Comedy. There is no word on how the merger will change those formats and what Cumulus plans to do with them. I would speculate that similar to Clear Channel, national-type formats are in the works for Cumulus as well.
Cumulus Media owns approximately 570 of the nation’s commercial AM and FM radio stations.
National Public Radio NPR
The third large group of radio stations is more like a collective than the commonly owned group. Stations or groups of stations are owned by regional group owners and form mini-networks, for example, Northeast Public Radio. The flagship station for Northeast Public Radio is WAMC, however, they own 11 radio stations and 12 translators. This is fairly typical of NPR affiliates.
NPR stations act in concert with the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) and NPR to form a powerful media presence. Most stations carry some local programming, however, NPR staples such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition are almost universally heard on every NPR affiliate.
Technically speaking, NPR stations make up the single biggest block of HD Radio users, almost all of which were licensed and installed under grants from the CPB. NPR Labs has done extensive work testing and attempting to improve HD Radio, taking over for iBquity’s own in-house engineers. NPR is also exploring ways to use new media distribution networks, moving towards a more IP-based distribution model over terrestrial radio.
NPR is funded by member stations, the CPB, and by corporate sponsorships. The largest ever was from the estate of Joan Krock (McDonald’s Corporation), which lead to the Steve Inskeep/Morning Edition story about how great it was to work at Mcdonald’s. There is/have been several efforts to defund the CPB in recent years. With the economy going the way it is and all, the congressional moves to defund may win, which would be a crippling blow to NPR.
NPR affiliates number approximately 850 of the 3,572 non-commercial FM radio stations and about 50 AM stations in the US.
Other broadcast groups such as CBS, Entercom, Emmis, etc
Those companies will likely follow whatever Clear Channel and Cumulus are doing, as those companies are driving marketplace trends and competition, or lack thereof.
Voice of America, US government
In a somewhat surprising development, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the operations of the Voice of America would like to repeal some parts (.pdf) of the 1948 Smith-Mundt act, which prohibits them from broadcasting domestically. Does this mean that the VOA will become a government broadcaster like the BBC and CBC? I don’t rightly know. The BBG is also proposing to greatly curtail HF (AKA Shortwave) transmissions, favoring a combination of Satellite to FM and IP network delivery methods. The BBG is also proposing defederalizing the VOA (AKA privatization). Perhaps one of the current large broadcasters, e.g. Clear Channel or Cumulus will be interested in purchasing the VOA brand name.
With the repeal of the Smith-Mundt Act, does this open the door for some form of domestic shortwave service? I have commented several times on the ability of HF radio to cover large distances with moderate power levels. The 1,000-watt non-directional CFRX on 6070 KHz is a good example of this. Most hours of the day, it is listenable at my location, some 300 miles distant from the transmitter. I enjoy listening to Toronto news and talking as much as any other. Lower frequencies and moderate power levels would be an interesting experiment.
What does the future hold for broadcast technical people?
All of this points to more consolidation of engineering staff, centralized NOCs (Network Operations Centers), and more emphasis on computer/IT skill sets versus the legacy AM/FM transmitter and analog audio skill sets most broadcast engineers have. The old days of the RF guru are coming to a close.
Most new transmitters have some sort of web interface, which allows complete remote monitoring and supervision. If a transmitter does not have that, remote control units can be web enabled. These transmitters are modular, with the modules being removed and returned to the factory for repair. That innovation greatly reduces the amount of training and experience required to maintain transmitters, almost anyone can remove a module and ship it somewhere. That, in turn, leads to a more consolidated technical staff with field engineers being dispatched to specific sites to take care of outages as needed, which is the model that cellphone companies and wireless service providers use.
Further, as evidenced in this discussion on the radio-info board, many of the older engineers are becoming tired of underfunded, neglected physical plants. The idea that a contract engineer is someone you call only when you go off the air has been around for quite some time. As time goes on, fewer and fewer are willing to accept that type of work.
The future looks like radio station technical staff will be mostly computer-related technicians and engineers that take care of problems remotely from a NOC. If a physical presence is needed, a field technician can be dispatched. These people will most likely be contractors.
Smaller groups and the mom-and-pops that are left will have to get on board with the reality that fewer and fewer contractors will be willing or able to troubleshoot a tube amplifier and replace their transmitters with newer solid-state units. Manufacturers, if they are on the ball, will want to offer some type of monitoring service for those types of customers, again, dispatching a field technician as needed to effect repairs.
Either way, computer and networking skills are a good thing to have and are transportable to other sectors, should one find oneself an unemployed broadcast engineer.
