Tech Roundup

For all of the chatter and excitement over ATSC 3.0 and "over the top" choices for consumers, and all of the attention Norway is getting for its year-long silencing of the majority of its FM stations, there's still a demand for FM broadcast transmitters. But, how hot — or cold — is the marketplace? A newly released market research report says there's definitely growth on a global level, and the Americas are driving it.

An advertising technology company "using data, predictive targeting and machine learning to provide competitive advantages to marketers as measured by real-world business outcomes" has entered a partnership with one of the top tech services providers for the digital audio industry.

In a big move for the advancement of the next-gen TV transmission standard known as ATSC 3.0, MediaTek has become the first SoC provider to complete evaluation tests of Verance Aspect—selected by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) as an "essential component" for next-gen transmissions.

Eleven months after the first FM signals in Norway signed off the air forever, part of an effort approved by the Norwegian government to shift all radio listeners to DAB-delivered digital radio stations, the final stations bringing listeners programming between 88 and 108 MHz have faded to silence. The last stations to sign off permanently did so Wednesday (12/13), with FM signals in the far north of Norway and in the Svalbard archipelago going silent. As a result, Norway is the first country in the world to shut down national broadcasts of its FM stations. That said, the band is not completely devoid of signals.

Want to listen to the Jack Diamond Morning Show on Washington's Mix 107.3 or enjoy your dinner with Melissa Maxx cranking out classic rock tunes on 95.5 KLOS in Los Angeles? Now, you can do it easily through any Amazon Echo device, as every Cumulus Media station can communicate with "Alexa," and she'll understand your request just fine.

The advanced data and analytics company that takes its name from a well-traveled freeway in Southern California has just named its first Chief Technology Officer. Earning the title at 605 is an independent strategic technology consultant who most recently worked with various clients in the financial technology, legal technology and advisory services markets.

Digital TV receiving equipment and terrestrial tuner chipset manufacturers can now test the performance of their products for compliance with the ATSC 3.0 standard using only a single unit. To do so, Munich-based Rohde & Schwarz offers an ATSC 3.0 realtime coder and a waveform testing library for its R&S BTC broadcast test center.

Audinate, developer of the Dante media networking technology, has announced the availability of Dante IP Core, a soft IP solution for audio manufacturers. It allows OEMs working with FPGA-based designs to add Dante audio connectivity to AV products, using a single FPGA to implement product applications and Dante audio networking.

With television networks relying more heavily on license fees paid by “over the top” (OTT) video programming distributors, Media Audits International (MAI) is readying the launch of an OTT digital audit program to audit distribution carriage agreements and subscriber/transactional records maintained by OTT content distributors—including multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) for "skinny bundles" of cable and satellite television channels.

In an act that creates a single trade association for promoting IP in the media and entertainment industry, The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) is merging with the Media Networking Alliance (MNA). The combination of the two entities comes after a two-year history of collaboration.

After 15 years as President of Utah Scientific, Tom Harmon has announced his retirement. Come Jan. 1, 2018, a change in command will transpire, elevating the current COO and EVP/Finance into Harmon's soon-to-be former role.

"Hey Alexa ... wake me up with my favorite radio station!" That's a reality top digital publication Engagdet has brought to the attention of Silicon Valley and the online universe. Are radio broadcasters smart enough to see what they do about the smart phone as the next-gen alarm clock?

What is the future for broadcast radio in the dashboard of vehicles big and small on the roads across America? It's a question many have asked, and remains one of great importance to broadcast media's C-Suites. Now, the NAB is helping to bring clarity to what lies ahead for AM and FM while consumers are on the road by presenting an hour-long webinar on Thursday (12/14) featuring key thought leaders on the digital dashboard.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has given its thumbs-up to the Advanced Emergency Alerting (AEA) specification developed by Monroe Electronics as part of the A/331 standard. With the Dec. 6 approval of the A/311 Signaling, Delivery, Synchronization and Error Protection standard, announced Wednesday), AEA is now an official function within the ATSC 3.0 suite of next-generation broadcast transmission standards.

Live broadcast and events will generate over $545 billion in direct revenues in 2018. That's a key takeaway from the 17th edition of the "Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions” report from Deloitte, released today. The report also looks at the "adlergic" audience, and how this may impact -- if at all -- digital media and ad revenue. Meanwhile, young adult TV viewing is predicted to decline yet again.