Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 874, Volume 17, #41 for May 13, 2026

AUCTION 144 SCHEDULED
FCC says on February 2, 2027 it will hold Auction No. 114 – the first since their authority to hold auctions was returned. The Media Bureau then announced a freeze, effective immediately.

ANOTHER ONE GOING PRIVATE
The Christian Community Foundation – dba Waterstone – has signed an agreement to acquire Salem Media’s 117 stations in 38 markets, along with the magazine and book publishing, and Internet content, and take the whole thing private. (Salem’s 117 stations is currently tied with Audacy as the fifth largest group in the US.)

REMOTE CONTROL MADE EASY
Between the number of items now that feature Internet connection and the need for cyber security, putting together a remote control system can be very difficult. WorldCast’s Kybio, currently in a special deal with BSW, aims to make it easy for the smallest station or the largest group to build an easy to use remote control and alerting system that works. Cyrus Uible is our guest presenter this week, and he will show how the WorldCast team works with stations to produce and install a solid system – even if no one at the station is an IT guru.

Join us Thursday at 2 PM Eastern /11 AM Pacific, and let us learn things. The link request is, as usual, at www.theBDR.net/TLG/ Yes, you can see us on YouTube live – but joining us on zoom makes it easier to ask questions and discuss issues.

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

 

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE
Sometimes you see a problem forming. Other times, it might take you by surprise. Rolin Lintag has an interesting look at how to build a Predictive Maintenance Program.

CBS RADIO NEWS FADEOUT
It is getting closer: the final broadcast from CBS News – after 99 years. As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, CBS has decided to end the news network that brought you Edward R. Murrow, among so many others. On their Sunday morning program, CBS offered a walk down the Radio News memory lane. The material was also posted on the CBSnews.com site. 

OLDRADIO.COM
Do you enjoy the history of broadcasting? Oldradio .com is a source of history on the Web… from basic hits and myths of history to some pictures of broadcast gear you might have used – or only heard about.

HD RADIO IS NOT AVAILABLE AT GM
The NAB noted that General Motors “has, by and large, stopped putting HD Radio in their cars.” David Layer noted that as less than a quarter of US stations broadcast in HD, it is hard to make the argument that auto makers should include radios in their products. Layer feels that without more stations using HD, auto makers may continue to reduce broadcast radio presence in the dashboards of new models.

HACKING IN THE UK
We have noted a half-dozen hacking incidents in the US where someone took over the audio chain of a station and broadcast the nasty, rude, and profane language and EAS tones. A report from England relates that on October 9th, Horizon Radio, a DAB station serving the SouthEast Midlands, got the hacking treatment and “F-Word” was repeated for about 26 minutes. The station did move to shut the stream off, stating it was the streaming provider that got hacked, and notified Ofcom, the British FCC, which noted the station’s on-air apology and quick effort to fix the problem, concluded the matter as resolved.

LOGS AND MORE LOGS
We noted the continued growth of FCC attention to the filings required on the Online Public Information File (OPIF). Fines and Consent Decrees are now including short term renewals. While not on-line, it is important to remember 73.1820 requires all full-power stations have a Station Log, including EAS activity and tower lighting for stations with lit towers. FCC inspectors will want to see these logs are filled out correctly, and any issues of off-air or other malfunctions are properly recorded, along with times and dates
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 

Here are some of the more recent items of interest:

• Predicting Maintenance Needs – Rolin Lintag
• Beware of Killer Thumb Drives – Barry Mishkind
• Join the Lunch Gathering – Thursday 2 PM Eastern
• Enforcement Watch – Licenses in danger for non-payment / Tower painting NOVs
• Danger: Consumer Electronic Parts – Ron Schacht
• Coping with Overgrown Wild Vegetation – Barry Mishkind
• Talking Like An Old Hand – Clay Freinwald
• AC Problems Solved with PowerClamp – Hank Landsberg
• Making Nautel Customer Support Better – John Wilton

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

 
MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

Following the NAB Show, Angry Audio has brought out a new analog device for connecting phones directly to the console. POTS service is not needed: this AoIP “Phone Gizmo” brings a Yealink SIP desk phone right into the console.

COAX AND CONNECTORS
If you are looking for soax and connectors, take a look at American Amplifier Technologies. They can provide air or foam coax, pressurized or not, at all needed power levels.

FOR SALE
Looking for an Orban Optimod 5500i? We have a new listing for one. You can find it here.

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

 

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

• 13 years ago (5/12/13) Astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded “Space Oddity” on board the International Space Station.
• 41 years ago (5/13/85) The Parents Music Resource Center pushed a rating system and warning stickers for records.
• 43 years ago (5/16/83) Michael Jackson did the “Moon Walk” for the first time on TV; the audience loved it.
• 44 years ago (5/15/82)”Ebony And Ivory” began a seven-week run at #1 on the pop charts
• 50 years ago (5/17/66) Bob Dylan was called a “Judas” for electrifying “Rolling Stone.”
• 63 years ago (5/12/63) Bob Dylan refused to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. *
• 61 years ago (5/17/65) The FBI Lab reported they found no “dirty” lyrics in “Louie Louie.”
• 62 years ago (5/16/64) the first Motown record to hit #1: Mary Wells with “My Guy.“
• 71 years ago (5/14/55) “Unchained Melody” hit #1. Can you name the artist? **

… and 118 years ago (5/12/1908) Nathan B. Stubblefield was granted a patent (887,357) for wireless telephone. But was it radio?

Here are some other “Headlines of the Past.”

• 29 years ago (5/11/97) IBM’s Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in chess match.
• 46 years ago (5/18/80) Mount St. Helens erupted.
• 53 years ago (5/17/73) the Watergate hearings began.
• 53 years ago (5/13/73) Bobby Riggs and Margaret Court face off in first “Battle of the Sexes”
• 53 years ago (5/14/73) America’s first space station, Skylab, was launched
• 72 years ago (5/17/54) the landmark case of Brown vs Board of Education was decided.
• 77 years ago (5/12/49) the Berlin blockade was lifted.
• 97 years ago (5/16/1929) the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences handed out its first awards, at a dinner party for around 250 people held in the Blossom Room of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California.
• 108 years ago (5/15/1918) official scheduled air mail delivery began – but how about this: ***
• 234 years ago (5/17/1792) the New York Stock Exchange was formed.

… and 419 years ago (5/13/1607) the Jamestown settlers arrived.

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

 

* Dylan was not allowed to play “Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues,” so he walked.

** Les Baxter. Curiously, the one you remember, by the Righteous Brothers, topped out only at #4.

*** During the first aerial flight in North America by balloon on January 9, 1793, from Philadelphia to Deptford, New Jersey, Jean-Pierre Blanchard carried a personal letter from George Washington to be delivered to the owner of whatever property Blanchard happened to land on, making the flight the first true delivery of air mail in the United States.

MIDWEEK BONUS

John Tesh has been inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. A former news and sports correspondent, Co-Host of the TV show Entertainment Tonight, and popular musician, now with six Emmy Awards, four gold albums, more than 8 million records sold, sold-out concert tours and an induction into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.

A TSUNAMI ALERT YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE!
A study published this week says a tsunami in August of last year in southeastern Alaska was the second-largest in recorded history – with waves reaching an astounding 1,578 feet, second only to a 1958 tsunami in Alaska that produced up to 1,720-foot waves.


WEEKEND BONUS

Did you know? The espionage franchise – Mission Impossible – is all about secret codes, including one embedded in its popular theme song. The opening notes are actually based on Morse code, which translates to “M” and “I.”

It is usually sad to see a broadcast tower come down, whether due to weather issues or, as in recent years, selling the land. Especially interesting are self-supporters when they are pulled down. Recently, the no-longer-used KFUO tower (they have a new one) in St. Louis was dropped. Here is a look at the event last month.

= = =

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

NO INBOX FLOODING!!!!    MORE DETAIL HERE
Those you who read the Newsletter might notice that more detail is provided on some timely issues than on the BDR site, itself. That is one reason we encourage you to invite your friends to subscribe. We are Opt-In only… and we give you two promises (OK, four!):
(1) no inbox flooding – it is one-time-a-week, and
(2) we do not give out anyone’s address.. ever.
(3) no cookies are placed on your computer.
(4) no Google ads are grafted onto your computer screen.

PLEASE DO INVITE A FRIEND
We sure hope you are finding the BDR and the Newsletter to be of value to you. If so, there are two things that you can do to ensure the BDR keeps pulsing along:
        1. Invite a colleague or a friend to sign up for the Newsletter. Since it is only one-time-a-week, you will not be accused of flooding their in-boxes!
        2. Anytime you deal with one of our sponsors, letting them know the BDR is important to you will make them happy – and ready to keep on supporting the BDR.

PLEASE 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?

barry