Tech Roundup

A Indiana, Pa.-based company known for its design and manufacture of RF matrix switches has been awarded a patent for the XTREME 256 matrix switch modular. The design allows its switch chassis to be configured with either a symmetric or asymmetric number of inputs and outputs.

The broadcast industry provider of fiber termination and custom fiber solutions has hired Joe Zajac as its next Business Development Manager. In that role, Zajac will work to expand Joseph Electronics' reach in the broadcast market and create new opportunities in other vertical markets.

Monroe Electronics subsidiary Digital Alert Systems (DAS) has reached a technology partnership that integrates its EAS-Net communications software with NVerzion's CloudNine video server system. As a result, users can benefit from a direct IP link between the DAS DASDEC emergency messaging platform and NVerzion's video servers to handle Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) and Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) messages.

Broadcast radio and TV technology player The Telos Alliance, parent company to Telos, Omnia, Axia, Linear Acoustic, 25-Seven, and Minnetonka, has selected its new Omnia US Sales Manager for Radio Processing. It's choice: Paul Kriegler.

A broadcast industry veteran who has held key sales roles with Harmonic and Thomson Video Networks has been selected by GatesAir to drive regional strategies and initiatives across a broad territory from Mexico to Argentina, and throughout the Caribbean islands.

Group One has appointed the former Director of U.S. territory sales for Harman International – Studer as its new Regional Sales Manager for the Calrec Audio line of digital consoles. He will be based in San Francisco.

Wedel Software and Kansas-based radio broadcasting company Rocking M Media have entered into a licensing agreement to install the MediaSales Suite to manage multi-media business, including 31 radio stations, four networks, and an advertising signage division.

Sure, Q3 may be looking a little rough around the edges for many radio broadcasting companies. But, consider where the entire industry could be in five short years, thanks to the surge in smart speakers that's just unfolding. According to a just-released study from U.K.-based Juniper Research, smart speakers such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, and the Sonos One will be in a majority of U.S. homes by 2022.

When it came time to finalize its plans for coping with Phase One and Phase Two of the TV spectrum repack process, an Illinois-based owner of nine TV stations was faced with a choice. Ultimately, it opted to acquire UHF and VHF antennas, filers and transmission lines customized for each of its stations. The company it went with: Dielectric.

D'Addio is a seven-year veteran of VITEC, and brings more than 25 years of video expertise and executive leadership to his new role. 

GatesAir has again expanded its global sales team with the appointment of an outside sales professional who has spent the last five years managing field service and repairs for more than 70 companies in the energy and utility industries.

How can broadcast media reach the decision makers who control spending of the billions of dollars in political advertising that will be placed during the 2018 election campaigns? Here's a database with contact information for all levels of races and issues, from local to national. Newspapers have profited from this tool that's now available to radio and TV.

A new voice-controlled speaker from Harman Kardon is powered with the Cortana voice recognition system from Microsoft. And, it is now capable of accessing one of the widely used streaming audio apps — iHeartRadio.

Mr. Master and Premiere Networks have reached an agreement that sees Premiere serve as the exclusive sales representative for Mr. Master’s Automation Import Manager (AIM) software. AIM allows stations to automatically process their audio, place it into automation systems, and post the exact time of airing back to the content provider.