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 849, Volume 17, #16 for November 19, 2025

FCC IS BACK … MOSTLY
Those of you who have tried to access fcc.gov have noticed you just could not get on to handle filings. The FCC did post on one page that the LMS would not be available until yesterday – and it was, with one twist: all applications from now until November 25th will carry a November 25th processing date. The OPIF site seems to be working well – some folks say it actually is running faster than in the past!

The FCC’s latest instruction contains a due date for the Quarterly OPIF filings of December 1st . A new EEO deadline will be November 24th. Political files will be accepted in stages: Licensees in NY, NJ, and CT will file November 19-26; VA, MD, WV, and DC  December 1-8; CA to be December 9-16, and the rest of the country December 17-24.

APP FREEZES
Filings for Class A, LPTV and TV translators which had been originally frozen/moved in September through January will be reset from December 11th onward into March 2026. Here is the Public Notice.

PLAYOUT, MANAGEMENT, AND DELIVERY
Automation Systems have come a long way over the years. Everyday people are asked to do more, with less equipment, opening opportunities for consolidation and improving efficiencies. Over 35 years, a lot of people have come to rely on AudioVAULT every day. It’s scalability from one to many, Enterprise-class features and configurability to suit many different applications and workflows, AudioVAULT delivers. This month BE has released AV-xl, a new way to use AudioVAULT to take advantage of Multi-Platform, Multi-Station, Multi-casting. This week, Joe Myers and Rich Redmond will join us to demonstrate AV-xl and answer your questions.

Join us at 2 PM Eastern on Thursday / 11 AM Pacific. You will learn things! link request: www.thebdr.net/TLG/

NOTE:  ARIZONA PRESENTATION TIME IS NOW NOON.


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


C-BAND
NAB’s legal team met with all three FCC Commissioners last week to share concerns about the current proposal to decide whether – and if so, how – to free up additional mid-band spectrum for new services in the Upper C-Band. Regarding “WT Docket No. 25-59,” will 100 MHz or 180 MHz be auctioned? This may have a major effect on broadcasters.

REVISITING OWNERSHIP
While much of the FCC’s Quadrennial Review discussion has been regarding changes in the ownership limits for TV stations facing ATSC 3.0, it is worth noting that radio ownership is also in the FCC’s view. Radio ownership rules have been essentially unchanged for three decades, even as the number, sources, and capabilities of audio sources have proliferated. There is a lot to consider for station owners seeking to survive. The rise of streaming in cars and the disappearance of over-the-air radios in homes – nearly 2/5 of all homes now report no radio – may prompt the FCC into tweaking the rules to enhance broadcast competition with other aural sources.

A PIRATE ACTUALLY PAYS
The FCC has filed and Order and Consent Decree wherein a Cape Cod FM Pirate has agreed to pay $7200 ($200 a month for three years) “voluntary contribution” to the US Treasury.

TV INDUSTRY OWNERSHIP ACTIONS
This week we have seen a couple of deals of note. For example, Sinclair reported it has now achieved an 8.2% position in E. W. Scripps. Meanwhile, Tegna’s plans to merge with Nexstar gained shareholder approval.

ANOTHER AM CLOSURE
Much of Europe has been dropping analog broadcasting in favor of DAB+. Next on the list is Spain, which announced last week that they will continue to decommission their AM frequencies. Many of the local RNE stations are already shuttered. Plans from several years ago were to close AM this year, as listenership has fallen off in recent years.

SURVEY HASSLES
Recently several research agencies have noted the challenges from AI-driven bot networks that can distort social media sentiment. Both overwhelming positive and negative comments may be significantly bot-driven. New services – narrative intelligence platforms and agencies – are being used to filter out bot activity. 

INTERNET MAY BE 99.99% .. OR NOT
Dead air is no fun. Yesterday was a reminder that the Internet is not “Always” there. For example, Cloudflare, a major ISP, had about four hours of no service due to a configuration file that glitched, disrupting everything from payments and deliveries to music streaming and EAS links to the FEMA.

BUY/SELL
Are you looking for a nice Marti STL anternna? We have two on the list this week. And, all sorts of other items. The Buy/Sell page is here.


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

 

Some recent articles of interest:

Some recent items of interest:


More newsy items here…

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

                         
                         MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

                        Broadcast Electronics’                         AudioVault has been redesigned and allows a number of new features allowing users to more easily customize the different screens and workflow including support for 18 widgets that can dragged and dropped. AV -xl is free to current users. A special lower price is available to new users.

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                        In anticipation of the World Cup games, Broadcast Depot has some special pricing and discounts on LiveU packages.

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                        WorldCast Systems                         is featuring their Audemat MC6 as an essential tool for daily FM & DAB+ test & measurement operations.

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                        Arrakis Systems                         has a year-end promotion of 10% discounts on some models.

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

                         

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

                          • 6 years ago (11/21/19) Polstar lists the top touring artist of the 2010’s: U2 with over $1 Billion. (#2- The Rolling Stones)
                          • 15 years ago (11/16/10) iTunes makes Beatles music available for digital download for the first time.
                          • 25 years ago (11/19/90) Milli Vanilli was stripped of their Best New Artist Grammy. *
                          • 30 years ago (11/16/85) Starship hit #1 with “We Built This City.“**
                          • 45 years ago (11/21/80) 76% of TV viewers tuned in to find out “who shot J.R.”
                          • 50 years ago (11/22/75) KC and the Sunshine Band hit #1 with “That’s the way (I like it).”
                          • 57 years ago (11/17/68) TV viewers become outraged as a football game was cut off to air “Heidi” ***
                          • 67 years ago (11/17/58) The Kingston Trio’s “Tom Dooley“ hit #1, starting the folk music revolution.
                          • 71 years ago (11/19/54) The Regency TR-1 became the first mass-market transistor radio.
                          • 119 years ago (11/22/1906) the Morse Code “SOS” was adopted as the international distress signal.

                          … and 148 years ago (11/21/1877) Edison announced he had invented the phonograph.

                          And here are a couple of more newsy-type items:

                          • 22 years ago (11/19/03) “The Terminator,” Arnold  Schwarzenegger became “The Governator” of California.
                          • 27 years ago (11/20/98) The US space shuttle Endeavor connected the US-built Unity node to the Russian-built Zarya module, marking the beginning of the International Space Station era. 
                          • 35 years ago (11/22/90) British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation after 11 years as Prime Minister.
                          • 40 years ago (11/20/85) Microsoft Windows 1.0 released to the public.
                          • 47 years ago (11/18/78) Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones literally made is followers drink the Koolade, and let 918 of his followers die in a mass murder-suicide at Jonestown.
                          • 62 years ago (11/22/63) John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
                          • 80 years ago (11/20/45) Twenty-four high-ranking Nazis went on trial at an international tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, for atrocities committed during World War II.
                          • 89 years ago (11/23/36) Life Magazine was first published.
                          • 156 years ago (11/19/1869) the Suez Canal opens .. cutting the distance from Europe to the East.

                          … and 162 years ago (11/19/1863) Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address.


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

                                           

                                          * Problem was, neither member of Milli Vanilli actually sang on the single and album. It was discovered when a lip-sync went horribly bad with a looping playback.

                                          ** JAM productions helped many stations build custom versions with local station IDs and other references.

                                          *** the Oakland Raiders scored two touchdowns in nine seconds to beat the New York Jets and no one saw it, because someone at NBC decided the game was over and it was time to start the movie Heidi instead. The Raiders took the lead, 32-36.

                                          MIDWEEK BONUS

                                          Anapodoton is a word I had never heard before. What Is an Anapodoton and how you ever used one?

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

                                                barry

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

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