Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 889, Volume 18, #4 for August 26, 2026

BUILDING A SECURE NETWORK FOR EAS
We are just one month away from the FCC’s deadline to secure your program chain according to their requirements. The FCC is actively working on addressing questions from the field. They have indicated at this point they welcome questions and concerns, and plan to answer them before long. 

Meanwhile, in Part Two of our look at how to put together a network that should meet the FCC’s requirements, Rolf Taylor looks at VPN and VLANs, along with a recommendation for a modestly-priced setup to enhance security. Join us and not only will Rolf explain how even the smallest station can be secure, he will be ready to answer some of your questions on the topic.

The Virtual Lunch Gathering will be at its usual time 2 PM Eastern/ 11 AM Pacific. We hope you will join us and learn things. The link for our presentation is at www.theBDR.net/TLG/ We will also be on YouTube live and the video will be archived on the BDR Lunch Gathering page.

By the way, we do have a Tuesday Reminder list, if you wish to be reminded of each week’s program. Just reply to this email and ask!  way… we are not even asking for users to “register.” Of course, if you like it, we would appreciate knowing.


LOOKING FOR THE FREE PASSWORD APP?
Look no further. It is here. Designed for broadcasters – and NO charge, ever.

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

 

MAJOR CHANGES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA COMING
Meta has just settled out of court regarding their policies that have been detrimental to youths. The agreement, among other things, will require more robust age verification, daily time limits, and stronger content controls – including limiting “likes.” Additionally, Meta will block access between midnight and 6AM, as well as 8AM to 3PM during the school year. And a lot of money is involved. zIf it is better than the Australian method, you might see children actually talking and doing more than doom-scrolling with their lives.

WHY IS CYBERSECURITY SO IMPORTANT THESE DAYS?
No matter how you feel about the EAS Order, you should sit up and take note: Back when the Internet started, there were not many dangers in using email – and web sites were pretty simple and not dangerous either. In recent years, hackers and ransomware have become an all too common irritant. But times have changed – and very rapidly now with AI ripping across the web.

Likely you have read of how the bad guys are using Ai to enhance their hacks. But you do not even need bad guys; now we have reports of chatbots that have broken out of their “box” and actually broken into another company. That is just digital. But you know that AI can imitate someone’s voice, and it is being used to try to “social engineer” a way into your systems. But it does not stop there – researchers have now identified threat actors impersonating popular AI brands such as Perplexity, Claude and ChatGPT to distribute malware, including information stealers and backdoors. Do not follow general links. Anything you tell to a fake chatbot could come back to harm you.

JUST ONE WRONG CLICK
Software impersonation via AI just looks for victims everywhere. For example, currently the new movie The Odyssey is appearing to be available on the web. But, as you can suspect, many of the streaming services that offer The Odyssey as part of a free trial are scams stealing the credit card information and/or dropping malware on the local computer. Do your protocols protect your system from careless staffers, especially weekenders?

TOUGH TIMES FOR SOME STATIONS
As the industry waits to see what the US Senate will do, three more AM stations officially went dark this week, with owners turning in their licenses. These stations, in Virginia, South Carolina, and Texas are among the 166 AM stations on the FCC’s “licensed and silent” list. FWIW, including FM, translators, and TV there are currently about 600 stations officially “licensed and silent.”

TOUGHER TIMES – THEY HIT WHICH TOWER?
Do you ever wish you had a spare tower for your AM? Last week, KLAD in Klamath Falls, OR, suddenly dropped from four towers to three when a crop duster clipped a guy wire and crashed. A witness to the crash pulled the pilot out of the wreckage with major injuries. The curious part appears to be that while KLAD used to operate directionally at night, only one tower was still active day and night, with low nighttime power. Of course, the tower that was hit appears to have been the active one. The station returned to the air, using one of the remaining spare towers.

CUMULUS GETS FCC APPROVAL
The company has been navigating its way through a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy, since an April approval from the Court. The FCC has now given approval after the company pledged to retain existing newsroom employees for at least two years. This was sought as a major owner of the “new” Cumulus is known for having thinned out the Tribune newsrooms.

BEASLEY MEDIA SOLVES A PROBLEM
When a company’s value drops below $2.5 million, Nasdaq warns them they have six months to fix things or become delisted on the stock exchange. Beasley went from a $49 million deficit to restructuring debts, landing well in positive stockholder equity  nearly two months ahead of the deadline.

SWITZERLAND REVERSES COURSE ON FM
All FM analog stations were to be shut by the end of 2026. However, a recent political decision has pushed the conversion to DAB+ off for some years. Basically, the idea was that it was feared analog listeners would jump to foreign stations instead of buying DAB radios. Thus, some stations that had been shuttered are planning to resume analog FM transmissions as soon as licenses are issued.

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

 

Here are some of the more recent items of interest:

• Building a Secure Network for EAS – Rolf Taylor
• A Free Tool for the New FCC EAS Password Rule – and More! – Ken Fine
• Join the Lunch Gathering – Thursday 2 PM Eastern
• Enforcement Watch – No NPT Forms for 3 Year = $27k / NoV for 475% over power
• Do You Have the Right USB-C Cable – Barry Mishkihd
• C-Band Passes Away From Broadcast – Danny Ray Boyer
• Silicon Carbide Comes to AM Broadcasting – Tim Hardy
• FCC Cybersecurity Order & NPRM – Barry Mishkind
• IT Security for Broadcast Gear – Kirk Harnack

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

 
MANUFACTURERS’ NEWSThe 2026

  Questions continue as to whether certain pieces of equipment will handle the new FCC 15-character requirement.  We do have a list of what we already know here.

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Broadcast Devices notes that they already have firmware revisions which support the longer passwords for their ATB-300, GPM-300, DAB-300, RAS-208 & RAS-216 and PAS-200 BDI audio product lines. Their RF support products will also have this capability within 30 days or so.

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Would you like a FREE password generator for broadcasters? Click here.

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Wheatstone has added an model, the AML 12 to it Audioarts line. The new analog console adds two mic and two line channels to the company’s AML 8 version. Both come with USB.

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WorldCast Systems has announced the launch of the Ecreso FM AiO Series 5kW, extending its Ecreso FM AiO Series to 5kW.

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Nautel reminds customers to check and ensure to register their transmitters, whether purchased new or used. (Often, when a used transmitter is purchased, it may still be registered to the former owner, and that can delay the support process.) Keeping  ownership information up to date helps ensure timely support. If you have information to update, click here.

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Mid-Summer conventions Worth your attention
Great opportunities to check out equipment and services you are considering buying:

• Mississippi Association of Broadcasters Conference is running today in Biloxi, MS
• The IBC will meet in Amsterdam, slated for September 11-14 at the RAI.
• The Wisconsin and Minnesota Broadcasters associations combine for the Broadcasters’ Clinic, September 14-16.
• The Western Association of Broadcast Engineers (WABE) has opened registration for the Oct 5-7 Vancouver BC gathering.

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

 

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

Note: This week is NOT the anniversary of the first commercial (WEAF), which was just a PR deal. It is also not the anniversary of the first newscast. Another pair of radio myths!

• 2 years ago (8/27/24) the band Oasis announced reunited after 15 years.
• 2 years ago (8/26/24) WCBS ceased its news format after nearly 60 years.
• 3 years ago (8/25/23) “Rich Men North of Richmond” made Oliver Anthony the first artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 without charting any prior song.
• 6 years ago (8/28/20) Katy Perry released her 6th album – bundled with a video game, Katy’s Quest.
• 8 years ago (8/27/18) Weird Al Yankovic got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• 21 years ago (8/29/05) Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Bet you did not know this. *
• 47 years ago (8/24/79) The Ramone’s movie “Rock & Roll High School” opened.
• 47 years ago (8/25/79) “My Sharona” by The Knack topped the charts at #1.
• 48 years ago (8/26/78) Frankie Valli hit #1 with the theme of the movie Grease.**
• 59 years ago (8/26/67) Bobby Gentry rode to #1 with her “Ode to Billy Joe.“
• 64 years ago (8/25/62) Little Eva hit #1 with “Loco-Motion.“
• 87 years ago (8/26/39) station W2XBS (later: WNBC-TV) broadcast the first televised Major League baseball game. ***

And, here are some more newsy-type items:

• 31 years ago (8/24/95) Windows 95 was launched. The “start music” was composed by Brian Eno. ****
• 48 years ago (8/26/78) The Civil Aeronautics Board allowed a 50-70% drop in air fares, sparking a lot of air travel.
• 63 years ago (8/28/63) Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech in Washington, DC.
• 71 years ago (8/27/55) The Guinness Book of Records debuted.
• 87 years ago (8/25/39) the Wizard of Oz opened. (No – the one with Michael Jackson was much later). It is now at the Sphere!
• 143 years ago (8/27/1883) The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurred on Krakatoa. It was heard 3,000 miles away.
• 167 years ago (8/27/1859) Edwin Drake drilled first oil well. Where? *****

.. and for the really old folks in the room, 1947 years ago (8/24/79) Mt. Vesuivus erupted. ******

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

 

* Not only was New Orleans flooded, but Barry Cowsill (of the Cowsills) drowned at age 50, and Fats Domino was among those rescued in the Ninth Ward. He was 77.

** It was the third #1 from the movie, along with “You’re the One That I Want,” a duet by the films co-stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” by Newton-John alone. A fourth song, “Summer Nights,” also hit into the Top 10.

*** Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. It was a doubleheader: The Reds won the first game 5-2 while the Dodgers won the second, 6-1.

**** Windows 95 was the first version of Microsoft Windows to include the Modern Windows Feel (Taskbar, Start Menu) Windows 95 was shipped without a default browser. Back then many of us used Netscape Navigator.

For some this was their first Windows operating system. Some waited for hours outside a computer store for their copy.

***** It was near Titusville, PA

****** The 2000-Year-Old Man said he reported this live?

MIDWEEK BONUS

Another area where AI has jumped in: Internet pages. More than one in ten pages are now from AI. (Since 2023, more than one-third of the pages have been done by AI.) The BDR is completely human written, typos, errors, and bad jokes.

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You probably know that Coca Cola originally contained cocaine, right?  Did you know that the lemon-lime drink 7Up also had an interesting ingredient? Its original name, “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda” (shortened to 7Up in 1936), gives a clue. Yes, the soda contained Lithium Citrate as a mood stabilizer. The US FDA outlawed it in 1948, leaving the familiar citrus taste.

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PLEASE INVITE A FRIEND TO JOIN US
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:
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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?

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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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Now … some extra stuff .. some important … some just interesting.

MORE DETAIL HERE – YOU HAVE PROBABLY READ THIS BEFORE…
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