24 February 2005
NPR affiliate WJCT-FM selects Z Series HD Radio transmitter with Split-Level Combining solution, entire FLEXSTAR range of products and NeuStar pre-codec processors
Building on its HD Radio(TM) conversion momentum, Harris Corporation announced on 22 February that WJCT-FM, Jacksonville, Florida’s NPR affiliate, has purchased a complete HD Radio transmission package. Scheduled to go on-air in the spring, the WJCT solution includes a Z16HDS 3.5 kW solid-state HD Radio transmitter operating in Harris’ patent-pending Split-Level(TM) Combining method with an existing analog transmitter; all three components of Harris’ growing FLEXSTAR(TM) family of HD Radio products; and NeuStar(TM) HD/FM codec processors for the cleanest audio possible. WJCT expects to be the first Jacksonville area station to officially launch an HD Radio service, covering a multi-county region at 100,000 watts ERP (Effective Radiated Power). The package also will fully prepare WJCT to launch a complete Tomorrow Radio service dependent on FCC approval, including supplementary audio and data and an HD Radio simulcast of its current analog Radio Reading Service for the sight impaired.
The station will utilize Harris’ FLEXSTAR HDI-100 importer and HDE-100 exporter, introduced at the October NAB Radio show, at the studio instead of at the transmitter site. This allows WJCT to reduce bandwidth and enable supplemental audio and data at the studio, thereby reducing its STL investment by up to 25 percent. The importer feeds multiplexed supplemental audio and data to the exporter, which multiplexes the main channel audio with secondary services and sends them to the exciter in a single bit-rate efficient stream. With its hybrid analog/HD capabilities, the FLEXSTAR exciter further increases efficiency by allowing the station to pre-correct and condition both signals in a single box within the Z16HDS transmitter. WJCT will employ dual exciters for additional redundancy.
Harris’ turnkey HD Radio transmission package offers further efficiencies through its Split-Level Combining method and the Neural Audio NeuStar codecs. Using the Split-Level Combining method, WJCT will save tens of thousands of dollars by eliminating the need for a new analog transmitter that would be necessary with high-level combining. Furthermore, Split-Level Combining reduces the total power output of the analog transmitter and allows the station to transmit at the same power level, keeping power costs to a minimum. Meanwhile, two NeuStar pre-codec processors – one each for WJCT’s main and supplemental HD Radio signals – will provide the cleanest result to listeners possible by preparing and optimizing audio content prior to encoding, eliminating artifacts that reside within highly bit-rate reduced signals in the process.
Harris is providing further redundancy for WJCT with an in-house engineered switching solution that creates a combiner bypass system. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the combiner can be bypassed so the analog signal can still reach listeners throughout the region. This means that even with the loss of the HD Radio signal and/or secondary services, the primary service will remain on the air. The Z16HD also functions as a 7 kW analog backup transmitter to ensure maximum on-air reliability.
24 February 2005
Ute Schaeffer has been appointed Head of the French service of DW-RADIO. She was previously in charge of Ukrainian programming at DW.
Deutsche Welle broadcasts in French for 3 hours per day, targetting listeners in francophone Africa. Programmes can be received via short wave and satellite, and via the broadcasters online platform.
DW has more than 120 FM partner stations in west and central Africa, and can fall back on a network of 25 correspondents in all countries in francophone Africa.
15 February 2005
Harris Corporation has announced the agenda for a two-day DRM Symposium March 1-2 at the Marriott Hotel in Bucharest, Romania. The event is designed to inform and educate radio broadcasters from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East on how they can prepare for a digital future with DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) technology, and will focus on Romania’s countrywide upgrade and expansion of its national broadcast infrastructure. Representatives from Harris and S.N. Radiocomunicatii S.A., Romania’s state-owned broadcast organization, will provide insight into the strategies behind the modernization program that is establishing 100 percent radio and television coverage throughout the country.
Day one of the symposium will begin with introductory comments from John Hall, manager of Radio Programs and High-Power Products for Harris Broadcast Communications Division’s Radio Broadcast Systems business, and a keynote speech from Gabriel Grecu, president of S.N. Radiocomunicatii. Mr. Grecu will discuss the advantages of upgrading the entire country’s broadcast infrastructure in two years, as well as his vision for a digital future in radio and television. Several presentations on DRM will follow, culminating with a DRM demonstration at a nearby 400 kW high-power AM transmitter site, the Tancabesti High-Power Radio station. Once at the site, Harris engineers will install a DRM exciter package inside the transmitter. The DRM exciter package will feature a content server for transmission of a multiplexed, bandwidth-efficient audio/data stream and a modulator to drive the digitally prepared signal to a DRM-ready receiver. Attendees will be able to listen to the results.
Day two will focus on Romania’s overall modernization program and cover all aspects from finance to technology and installation. Broadcasters from countries still relying on tube transmitters will learn how Harris’ television, radio, microwave and networking divisions worked together to provide a cost-effective, turnkey system that brought Romania ‘s antiquated system up to date with the solid-state analog technology favored throughout Western Europe. Discussions also will point to how Romania is now fully prepared for a digital future. Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Israel, Syria, Nigeria, Algeria, Turkey, Poland and the Ukraine are among the many countries expected to be represented during this conference.
“Now that we’ve established 100 percent national radio coverage, we feel it’s important to get the message out to our broadcasting peers faced with the same challenges that we’ve successfully addressed,” said Mr. Grecu. “Not only have we boosted our signal quality and coverage areas, but we were able to complete the installation in a span of two short years. It’s clear that our plan to upgrade the entire infrastructure at once was correct. It provides a clear return on investment and establishes a digital-ready infrastructure featuring the best in today’s solid-state analog technology.”
“The fact that Romania was able to boost its national coverage from 70 to 100 percent in a two-year period is impressive,” said Mr. Hall. “The overall goal of the DRM Symposium is to educate broadcasters on developing digital formats and inform attendees who are still relying on outdated technology that now is the time to upgrade. As Western Europe and other countries migrate to digital technology in the coming years, it’s important that others follow Romania’s lead and reap the immediate, significant benefits of solid-state analog technology and its seamless, cost-effective upgrade path.”
Between presentations and roundtable discussions, broadcasters will be able to observe a continuous demonstration of DRM and DAB receivers with live audio in the Marriott lobby. A separate DAB transmitter demonstration and related DAB discussions also will be on the Wednesday schedule for attendees interested in learning more about this growing digital format.
15 February 2005
Leading satellite services company GlobeCast, announced on 11 February the addition of Bosnian channel BN TV to its GlobeCast WorldTV Direct-to-Home satellite television platform the leading source of international television and radio in the United States. BN TV is the first Bosnian channel to debut on the service and is a key addition to the diverse European bouquet of worldwide programming on GlobeCast WorldTV. This coverage comes in addition to BN TVs existing availability in Australia and New Zealand on PanGlobal TV, a joint venture between GlobeCast Australia and PanAmSat. The channel now has access to a potential audience of millions of viewers across the globe.
GlobeCast – a subsidiary of France Telecom – manages proprietary Direct-to-Home satellite television platforms in Europe, America, Australia, Africa and Asia. GlobeCast WorldTV is the companys American Direct-to-Home Satellite Television Service on the Intelsat Americas 5 satellite.
GlobeCast is providing BN TV with transmission to America and Australia via satellite and fiber including uplink and space segment. The company receives BN TV via satellite at the GlobeCast Technical Operations Center in Paris. The signal is then fed via GlobeCasts proprietary ATM fiber network to the Los Angeles gateway in Culver City for conversion, encoding and turnaround to GlobeCast WorldTV on Intelsat Americas 5 for Direct-to-Home broadcast in America and to PanAmSats PAS-8 satellite for DTH broadcast on PanGlobal TV in Australia on behalf of BN TV’s distributor, TV PLUS.
Founded in 1998, BN TV is the highest rated TV channel in Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb Republic) as well as one of Bosnia & Herzegovinas leading channels. The full time channel offers news and political programs such as PULS, STAV I KONTRASTAV, PREGLED DANA, SVET DANAS, as well as entertainment programs like NEDELJNO POPODNE, I TO SAM JA, VECE SA VAMA, SLUCAJNI PARTNERI and UZ ANK. Its primary news journal, BN MONITOR, is the highest rated news program in the country. This is a subscription-based channel, available to GlobeCast WorldTV subscribers in the U.S. for $17 per month. For further information on signing up for BN TV, call 1-888-988-5288 from the United States.
15 February 2005
Radio Netherlands announced that Joop Daalmeijer has been appointed as its new Editor-in-Chief, responsible for the programming and journalistic aspects of the organization.
Mr Daalmeijer has spent more than 30 years in Dutch broadcasting. Mr Daalmeijer says: “My heart is in journalism. For me, it’s a challenge to be in charge of the journalistic process within such an innovative organisation as Radio Netherlands, that operates internationally. Radio Netherlands reaches millions of people through radio, TV and Intenet, and adapts quickly to technical developments and changing needs.”
