Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Transmission TCO. Really? Yes, Really.

by Bill Betts, Product Marketing

Total Cost of Ownership – TCO. You see it used everywhere these days: when shopping for a new car, investing in an IT system, assessing manufacturing equipment and even the deployment of lap top computers for business – and it's now the latest buzz word for the transmission industry. But what does it really mean for broadcasters? Is it just the efficiency of the power amplifier? Cranking up that number is easy, if you don't mind narrowing the bandwidth or sacrificing error correction. But I think that the key word is "total", so let's take a look at the myriad of factors that make up TCO in a transmission system.

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Monday, November 18, 2013

Harris Broadcast Rounds Out Leadership Team, Naming CTO and CFO

Harris Broadcast today appointed Steve Reynolds as Chief Technology Officer and Skip Sorenson as Chief Financial Officer. Both will report to Charlie Vogt, CEO of Harris Broadcast, with Mr. Reynolds leading product management and research & development, and Mr. Sorenson responsible for finance and IT.

"After an intense 100 days since joining Harris Broadcast, we have built a management team that is laser-focused on the challenges and opportunities facing our industry, customers and partners," said Mr. Vogt. "Steve and Skip join an outstanding team that shares a clear vision to lead the market in technology innovation and fuel a customer-first culture. Steve's software and IP pedigree, most recently at Comcast, bring a cutting-edge customer perspective that is ideal for guiding our product direction, while Skip's financial acumen spanning public and private companies aligns with our long-term goals and objectives."

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Thursday, November 07, 2013

Harris Broadcast and Broadcast Partners Complete One of the World’s First Nationwide Digital Radio Transitions for the Netherlands

Harris Broadcast and Broadcast Partners have completed the Netherlands' transition to all digital radio. The organizations deployed the nationwide digital audio broadcasting plus (DAB+) solution in a record three months, which included more than 30 Harris Broadcast Maxiva VAX transmitters with web enabled IP-based control and monitoring from the head-end to the transmission stage.

With the government mandate to move to complete national digital radio coverage by 2017, commercial broadcasters saw business advantages in accelerating their program, appointing Broadcast Partners to design, build and run the digital network. Working with Harris Broadcast, the broadcasters were able to meet their targeted date to have the complete network up and running.

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Tuesday, November 05, 2013

A Message from CEO Charlie Vogt: Redefining Harris Broadcast

I have spent my first 100 days immersed in the business and focused on the challenges and opportunities facing our industry, customers and partners. Together with our new management team, I have engaged our product, engineering, services, sales and marketing teams with a keen eye on industry trends, product requirements, quality, customer satisfaction, professional services and new business models designed to better align Harris Broadcast with our customers and business partners.

On Monday, Oct. 28th, we launched our new website — www.harrisbroadcast.com. The new site has been designed to deliver simplicity, easier navigation and focus — from industry-leading end-to-end solutions to educational resources and videos.

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Friday, November 01, 2013

DC shutdown may impact spectrum auction

Wireless executives have expressed concern that the recent federal government's shutdown will have a negative impact on the upcoming spectrum auctions.

The Federal Communications Commission is planning to hold three spectrum auctions within the next 15 months. However, executives told Bloomberg that they are concerned that even though the impasse is over, it will still delay the deadlines of some of those auctions.

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Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Futurecast Universal Terrestrial Broadcast System Proposed as Foundation of Next Generation Standard

An innovative new television transmission system, with breakthrough technologies that significantly enhance broadcasting performance and flexibility, has been proposed to the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) as the "physical layer" for the emerging ATSC 3.0 standard.

The "FUTURECAST Universal Terrestrial Broadcasting (UTB) System" – proposed by LG Electronics, its U.S. R&D subsidiary Zenith, and Harris Broadcast – was developed as the foundation of next-generation terrestrial broadcasting in the United States and around the world.

• The FUTURECAST UTB System is designed to increase data throughput by 30 percent while maintaining reception coverage and to improve multipath performance (compared with the current DTV standard) for fixed and portable TV reception.
• For mobile TV reception, FUTURECAST UTB includes energy-saving features for consumer receivers and enhanced indoor TV signal penetration, thanks to flexible coding choices.
• Advanced modes also deliver very high data rates or very robust transmission capabilities.

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Monday, August 26, 2013

FCC issues spectrum auction timeline

In the midst of the FCC's plans to auction spectrum across several bands for broadcasters and mobile data use, the military says it is now willing to give up a piece of its frequency pie.

The Department of Defense said it will compromise with wireless carriers and relocate its radio operations from a spectrum now being used for purposes such as training pilots in the Pentagon's drone program.

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Monday, August 05, 2013

What’s the Latest on ATSC 3.0?

While ATSC 2.0 added backwards-compatible enhancements like Mobile DTV to the existing ATSC Digital Television standard, ATSC 3.0 is a next-generation version of digital television that proposes significant improvements in performance, functionality, and efficiency.

As such, it's a very big deal because it won't be backwards compatible with the ATSC transmission infrastructure that DTV broadcasters now have in place. So by voluntarily adopting ATSC 3.0, DTV broadcasters will have to replace some equipment and integrate third party systems to make the entire transmission chain work seamlessly.

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Timing Looms Over Spectrum Repacking

As discussion continues surrounding the FCC's UHF spectrum repacking plan, issues surrounding the planning and timing of the process continue to cast a shadow over the goals of the plan.

The FCC's proposed rulemaking states that a three-year clock will start once the auction process is completed. However, there is no way of knowing how many stations will be affected until that time, which may make choosing that fixed window premature.

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Monday, July 22, 2013

New KDHX-FM Facility Relies on Harris Broadcast

After 20 years of operating from a renovated bakery in a residential section of St. Louis, MO, KDHX-FM is preparing to move to a more spacious, upgraded facility in the heart of the city's Grand Center Arts & Entertainment District.

Owned by Double Helix Corporation, a 501(c)3, KDHX 88.1 MHz FM is an increasingly rare, precious form of radio—known as independent/community radio—where DJ's still spin records and play CDs of music they really know and love.

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