Barry Mishkind

The Broadcasters' Desktop Resource

... edited by Barry Mishkind - the Eclectic Engineer

This Week’s Newsletter

Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 848, Volume 17, #15 for November 12, 2025

THE FCC REOPENING IS CLOSE
The news reports are predicting the government shutdown will finally be ending, with the House to vote later today.

The key takeaway for broadcasters? All filings that were scheduled for the past two weeks will be due – as soon as Friday. However, there is a good chance that the FCC will, recognizing the logjam and potential server crashes, extend filing deadlines for a few days.  That is not guaranteed, so keep alert. We will post any changes on the BDR and the BROADCAST email list. At the same time, some have advised including a note in any filing that it was ready on time and delayed by the government shutdown.
could be well after 9AM at certain times.

RESISTING THE SPAM FLOOD
Whether you are using email or social media, spam is a scourge. Solutions range from really sharp filters to RBLs (realtime blackhole lists) to deleting everything while singing the Monty Python Spam Song. A sort of common sense middle group is in the article that Mike Langner shares with us.

PROCESSING YOUR AUDIO
How much processing do you need? This is a question that every station needs to consider. Audio processors can cost well north of $15k or as little as several thousand. Here is the key question: “What features do you need?” Secondarily, “How much customization of the sound do you want to do?” Catfish Dosch from Angry Audio is our guest this week to discuss the criteria every station should consider for on-air and streaming processing.

Join us and learn something. As always, we gather at 2 PM Eastern time on Thursday (11 AM PST). As always, the link request is found at www.theBDR.net/TLG/

We hope to see you on Thursday.

NOTE:  ARIZONA PRESENTATION TIME IS NOW NOON.


May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!


THE FIRST AMENDMENT IN ACTION
Press freedoms are sometimes hard fought. In Marion County, Kansas, the local newspaper was raided by police after publishing some embarrassing material on local leaders. Files and computers were confiscated, and the co-owner of the paper suffered a heart-attack and died the next day. Now, the county has agreed to pay just over $3 million to the paper.

AI GAINING ACCEPTANCE
Has Max Headroom really arrived? A recent study by WPP Media suggests that less than half of listeners can tell the difference between human and AI generated voices in ads. According to the study, AI is just as effective as live announcers in capturing attention and driving desire to purchase products. Of course, this is relating to scripts. Reacting to live events, etc. is not quite yet a level of ability like Max had. But it is something to reflect on: is it really progress?

AI DETECTION TOOLS
If the listener does not know a voice is AI generated, will they care? Of course, in can be very different with video. To help TV stations – especially in the newsrooms – be able to determine if incoming content is real or AI generated, detection tools are improving to determine if footage is real or fake.

FOR SALE
Would a nice 814-foot of heliax solve a problem for you? A line with no problems (checked with a network analyzer) is among the newer items on the BDR Buy/Sell page. You will find it here.
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 

Some recent articles of interest:


                        More newsy items here…

                        May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

                         
                         MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

                        A “special” from Broadcast Depot: they have a series of SYES transmitters purchased without tariffs and priced at 10-50% off.

                        – – –

                        A couple of retirements in the industry:

                        Wheatstone has announced the coming retirement of Gary Snow, the founderm by the end of 2026. More details to come, but normal operations for the company will continue.

                        – – –

                        Tunwall Radio                         – makers of coaxial switches and controllers – owner Steve Tunwall has announced his retirement in the first quarter of 2026. Orders through December 2025 will be taken and fulfilled.

                        May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

                         

                          Do You Remember? This week in history:
                          Broadcast related items:

                            Do You Remember? This week in history:
                            Broadcast related items:

                            • 31 years ago (11/10/94) the FCC adopted the current EAS Rules. (The promised re-write of Part 11: it is still “a work in progress” – as it was last year and the year before and the year before that.)
                            • 33 years ago (11/10/92) HD Radio on AM began.
                            • 35 years ago (11/9/90) the IRS seized Willie Nelson’s assets in a tax matter.
                            • 47 years ago (11/11/1978) Billy Joel earns his first #1 album with “52nd Street.”
                            • 49 years ago (11/13/76) Rod Stewart rode “Tonights the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” to #1 for eight weeks.
                            • 50 years ago (11/10/75) The Edmund Fitzgerald sunk. (Gordon Lightfoot alert!)
                            • 56 years ago (11/10/69) Sesame Street debuted on PBS.
                            • 64 years ago (11/9/61) Brian Epstein met John Lennon. 
                            • 65 years ago (11/14/60) Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind” Reachs #1.
                            • 67 years ago (11/10/58) Conway Twitty got his first #1 hit. It was not exactly a country song. *
                            • 103 years ago (11/14/1922) the BBC began daily radio broadcasts from 2LO at Marconi House.
                            • 119 years ago (11/13/1906) Lee de Forest was granted a patent for his two-electrode “Audion” amplifier tube.


                            … and for a few other items of interest:

                            • 36 years ago (11/9/89) the Berlin Wall was finally taken down.
                            • 42 years ago (11/10/83) Windows 1.0 was released to the public.
                            • 60 years ago (11/9/65) a power failure caused the Great Northeast Blackout for up to 13 1/2 hours.
                            • 71 years ago (11/12/54) Ellis Island shut down after welcoming 12 million immigrants.
                            • 87 years ago (11/9/38) the Nazis launched their attack on Jews: Kristallnacht.
                            • 107 years ago (11/11/1918) at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the “Great War” ends.
                            • 117 years ago (11/14/1908) Albert Einstein first presents quantum theory of light.

                            …and 236 years ago (11/13/1789) Benjamin Franklin wrote “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.”


                                            May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

                                             
                                            MIDWEEK BONUS

                                            This week, the government announced that even when it opens, they will no longer manufacture pennies as they have for 230 years. Why? You probably know, it costs 3.7 cents to make a penny. Did you know the materials cost of a penny is currently 0.73 cents? The net effect? It costs the government over $85 million a year more than the value of the finished product.

                                            Did you know you can install a microcontroller on a cheap smart lightbulb? Yeah. Check it out.

                                            = = =

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                                                  TELL US WHAT’S WHAT
                                                  There are so many areas into which we would like to expand, but it is feedback from you that helps us decided where to go first. Are you interested in a certain piece of gear or technology? Let us know. Even better, would you be willing to do a user report and share your experience?

                                                  – – –

                                                  We sure do appreciate you spending time with our Newsletter. And even more so when you recommend us to your colleagues and friends.

                                                  barry

                                                  – – –

                                                  Yes … you might have seen it before, but we should do this: some extra stuff .. some important … some just interesting.

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