18 entries
EP 44 16:57
Radio loves patting itself on the back for showing up during hurricanes and tornadoes. I grew up in Florida watching cones of uncertainty aim at my house, so I get why that story feels good. But building your entire pitch around being useful only when everything else breaks is a terrible way to run…
Bonus 17:13
Diesel prices are all over the news right now, but everyone's talking about it like it's just a trucking story. It's not. I'm a broadcast engineer, and I'm here to tell you diesel is the thing keeping radio transmitters and cell sites alive when the power goes out, and right now that backup power…
Post
The FCC’s new cybersecurity rules take effect September 29. Broadcasters need to look beyond the EAS box and verify passwords, firmware, remote access, and anything that can affect the airchain.
EP 42 23:42
Radio keeps trying to beat Spotify at being Spotify, and it's losing, because that was never a fight it could win. I lay out why the actual advantage terrestrial radio has always had isn't the music or the transmitter, it's the human relationship, and why chasing efficiency has quietly stripped…
EP 35 18:40
Tyler breaks down why running a small internet radio station went from a fun hobbyist project in 2009 to a legal and financial minefield today. He walks through what changed after the small webcaster provisions expired, why licensing now means dealing with multiple performance rights groups plus…
EP 32 19:11
The STL, or studio to transmitter link, is the unglamorous connection that keeps a radio station on the air, and when it fails everything goes dead silent even if every other piece of gear is working perfectly. This episode covers why most stations never built backup STL systems, how broadcast…
EP 30 18:20
HD radio hijacking happens when a distant station's digital signal takes over a local frequency the moment that local station's own HD signal goes dark. Tyler breaks down how this happened to him on his commute, why small and low power FM stations have zero regulatory protection against it, and how…
EP 29 24:35
HD radio was pitched as the FM upgrade that would save terrestrial radio from satellite and streaming, but two decades later most listeners have never heard of it. Broadcast engineer Tyler Woodward traces the FCC's 2002 approval, iBiquity's royalty driven business model, and how media consolidation…
EP 27 14:27
For over 40 years, a radio signal in the UK has been quietly switching household heating systems on and off. It's called the Radio Teleswitch Service, and it's one of the best examples of hidden data riding on broadcast signals that most people have never heard of. I explain how RTS works, how the…
EP 25 17:21
There's a tiny data protocol still riding inside FM signals after all these years, and it's the reason your car's dashboard knows what song is playing. RDS and its US cousin RBDS are quietly holding up more than most people realize. I cover where the standard came from, how it actually works at the…