17 July 2003

Breaking News: IBOC could be in serious trouble Media Network has learned that Ibiquity, which developed the IBOC digital AM system adopted by the FCC in preference to DRM, is to part company with three of its top managers. Sources say that the three are E. Glynn Walden, vice president of broadcast engineering; Rick Martinson, vice president of program management; and Gerald  Marcovsky, senior legal advisor. The changes, reportedly made for cost reasons, are effective at the end of the month. All have been involved with IBOC development for several years. Walden has been the "face" of digital radio for many in the United States radio industry; he has been involved in the technical development of IBOC technology since 1989 and was the main liaison between Ibiquity and broadcasters, said sources. Martinson was appointed director of digital radio broadcast development in 1996, and Marcovsky joined the company in 1998. Ibiquity had no comment other than to say it continues working on the IBOC system. 6:04:34 PM     comment on this entry []

Thunderstorms affect Orfordness mediumwave services We just got word from Merlin Communications that last night's thunderstorms that swept across this part of Europe damaged the mediumwave transmitters at Orfordness which broadcast BBC World Service programmes. Priority was given to getting 648 kHz back on the air. It seems to be operating normally as of 1600 UTC, but as it's always so strong here it's hard to tell whether the station is operating on full power and/or with a different antenna. There have been no DRM transmissions on 1296 kHz today. 5:56:46 PM     comment on this entry []

SBS continues to expand As I have a day off today, thanks to Poul Foged in Denmark for forwarding this item: SBS Broadcasting SA, which currently owns and operates 19 radio stations in Scandinavia, announced today that its has agreed to acquire Radio 1 Norge AS in Norway and Radio 2 A/S in Denmark as part of the expansion of its radio operations in Scandinavia. The total purchase price of these acquisitions is approximately Euro 17.5 million. SBS agreed to acquire Radio 1 Norge AS and Radio 2 A/S from wholly owned subsidiaries of Clear Channel Communications, Inc. and from Norsk Aller AS. The acquisitions, which are subject to regulatory approvals in Norway and other conditions precedent, are expected to close in mid-August 2003. Earlier this week, SBS agreed to merge with Bonnier Radio in Sweden. Following the completion of all these transactions, SBS will operate and control 52 radio stations across the major Scandinavian markets. There will be more on this story in Media Newsdesk tomorrow. 5:24:22 PM     comment on this entry []

© Copyright 2003 Andy Sennitt.