OUR NEXT MEETING:

SBE14 Holiday Party, Wed. Dec. 7 at Jim's Family Pizza, same place as the last few years. Sponsored by Brian S. from Harris Broadacst.

http://www.jimsfamilypizza.com/

Chapter Elections 
       As stated at the September meeting we need two or three volunteers to be on the chapters Election Committee to oversee chapter elections later this year. The total time commitment over the next few months is only a few hours.  Please contact John if you would like to volunteer.
      Also, if you are interested in running for any of the chapter's leadership positions, chair, co-chair or sec/treasurer, please contact us asap.

CBA Convention - Oct 18

The annual Ct Broadcasters Association convention will be at the Hilton Hartford Hotel on October 18.   Mike Rice of the CBA has offered free admission (inc. lunch) to engineers who may suffering a financial hardship due to the economy (just write "comp" on the registration form, available from the CBA).
Here's the program:

8:00 - 10:30 a.m. 3rd Floor Ballroom Lobby
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST & REGISTRATION
Sponsored by BMI

9:00 - 11:45 a.m. RADIO & TV SALES SEMINAR with
Jeffrey Hedquist, President & Creative Director, Hedquist Productions
Sponsored by CONNECTICUT RADIO NETWORK
Designed for Radio and TV AEs, Sales Managers, Production Directors and Copywriters
Start getting better results for your clients; avoid formulas that tell your audience "This is a Commercial". There will be lots of Radio and TV examples with hands-on exercises, along with techniques for doing better marketing for clients, and ways to integrate these techniques with digital.
Moderator: CRN Senior Account Executive Steve Parker

9:00 - 10:15 a.m. WASHINGTON UPDATE with
David Oxenford, Davis Wright Tremaine; and Kelly Cole, Senior VP, NAB Government Relations
Sponsored by ASCAP
Designed for All Broadcast Managers and Owners
Kick-off topics will include: the FCC's plans for reclaiming part of the TV spectrum for wireless broadband; the status of the performance royalty; CALM Act implementation; the FCC's review of their ownership rules; Retransmission consent reform; the upcoming due date for Biennial ownership reports; advertising regulation in areas including obesity, privacy, prescription drugs, and messages directed to kids; political broadcasting issues for 2012; EEO compliance including the Anti-Discrimination in Advertising certification; and other hot topics in the legislative and regulatory world. There will be plenty of time for your questions.
Moderator: CBA Board Past Chairman Don DeCesare, Owner/Operator of Crossroads Communications-WLIS/WMRD Old Saybrook/Middletown

9:00 - 10:15 a.m. MAKING STATION BRANDING BULLETPROOF-TRADEMARKS & HOW TO USE THEM
Frederick A. Polner, Esq., Communications Attorney; Dan Pomroy, Thomson Compumark; and Ronald Coleman, Esq., Goetz Fitzpatrick, LLP, New York, NY
Sponsored by ARBITRON
Designed for Radio and TV Managers and All Creative Managers and Staff
Radio and Television stations are masters at branding their product. This session will discuss some of the key legal issues surrounding how to select and maintain liners, slogans, symbols and logotypes, both over-the-air and on-line over the internet.
Moderator: CBA Board 2nd Vice-Chair Kathy Browne, Key Accounts Manager of CBS Radio Hartford
  
10:30 - 11:45 a.m. ENGINEERS SESSION
Manny Centeno, Program Manager for IPAWS Department of Homeland Security-FEMA; and
John Ramsey, Chairman of the Society of Broadcast Engineers Chapter 14, Chief Engineer of WCCC, and General Manager of WWUH-FM/University of Hartford
Sponsored by CONNECTICUT RADIO NETWORK
Designed for Radio and TV Engineers and Anyone Interested in Connecticut Radio History
Mr. Centeno will review plans for the first-ever nationwide EAN live test scheduled for November 9th.
Mr. Ramsey's presentation will cover the history of CT radio, featuring historic photos and great air-checks.
Moderator: CBA VP of Emergency Services Wayne Mulligan

10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
THE BROADCAST FUTURES PANEL
John Garziglia, Womble Carlyle; Harry Jessell, editor of TVNewsCheck; and Paul McLane,
U.S. Editor-in-Chief of Radio World Newspaper
Sponsored by the U.S. COAST GUARD
Designed for All Broadcasters
Session will take a long look into the future of Radio and TV broadcasting from an economic, regulatory, life-style and technical point of view. Your questions make this panel go.
Moderator: CBA 1st Vice-Chairman Klarn DePalma, Senior VP & GM of WFSB-TV 3

12 Noon - 1:45 p.m. LUNCHEON SESSION, ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING, KEYNOTE SPEECH
Sponsored by ARBITRON, ASCAP & THE CONNECTICUT NATIONAL GUARD
Master of Ceremonies and CBA Board Chair Jennifer Parsons, General Manager of WZBG-FM Litchfield, will conduct the Annual Business Meeting. CBA Scholarship Chairman Andy Russell, Market Manager of Hall Communications Connecticut, will introduce the 2011 CBA College Scholarship Grantees and the Paul K. Taff and Nelson Brown Special Award Winners. Ray Andrewsen, General Manager of WQUN Hamden will present the CBA Lifetime Achievement Award toDr. Mel Goldstein.
Keynoter: Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy

2:00 - 3:00 p.m. SESSION FOR EDUCATIONAL & NON-COMMERCIAL RADIO STATIONS
Sponsored by CBA
Designed for Managers, Faculty Advisors, Students and All Staff involved with high school, college and faith-supported radio stations, as well as public and LPFM stations
Session is for non-commercial radio stations to discuss common problems and challenges. An update on the progress of the CT Radio Alliance will be presented. Other agenda items will be station fundraising, student staffing ideas, streaming issues, and regulatory challenges.
Moderator: John Ramsey, General Manager of WWUH-FM/University of Hartford

2:00 - 3:00 p.m. LOCAL BROADCAST SALES SESSION
Stephen Warley, Principal of LocalBroadcastSales.com
Sponsored by CONNECTICUT NATIONAL GUARD
Designed for Radio and TV Account Executives, Sales and General Managers
CBA is completing its 3rd year of association with LBS, allowing us to offer our members weekly on-line sales training from the top sales instructors in the industry. This session will cover top the five most common sales questions asked by LBS members in a recent survey, along with questions from the floor. Need promotion ideas or new source of leads? Stephen is THE sales idea guy. Online and social media broadcast ad combos will be covered.

EAS Deadline Extended!

The FCC announced today that they have extended the deadline for broadcast stations to have their Emergency Alert System equipment be CAP compliant to June 30, 2012. The deadline had been set for September 30, 2011.

The FCC said, "In this Fourth Report and Order, we have revised the rules to extend the date by which EAS Participants must be able to receive CAP-formatted EAS alert to June 30, 2012."

The FCC explained that more time is needed to revise Part 11 of the FCC Rules so that it cannot impose a deadline by which EAS participants must receive CAP-formatted alerts.

View the full text of the Fourth Report and Order on the SBE Website

National E.A.S. Test Update

 WHAT TO EXPECT 
     On Wednesday, November 9th, radio and TV audiences will feel like they're part of an iconic 1950's sci-fi movie when the government tests the Emergency Alert System. While you're car won't stop in traffic, elevators will continue to run and ice makers will still drop chilly cubes in your glass, for about three minutes, the government will take over your airwaves and interrupt normal programming on all broadcast radio and TV stations as well as satellite radio, satellite and cable TV and many other subscription entertainment services for atop-down test of the country's major public warning service. 
     You might ask why there is so much fuss about another EAS test. After all, we do them routinely. Once a week we send a Required Weekly Test--waaaack, waaaack, waaaack, waack, waack, waack--and go on about our busines s. Once a month there is a longer test, the Required Monthly Test that not only includes the "duck quack" digital signals but also the jarring "dual tone" that has marked emergency warning messages since the middle of the last century. Once the dual tone ends, there is a test message followed by the short duck quacks. And once in a while, we get an actual emergency message generally a developing, dangerous weather situation or an AMBER Alert. Occasionally, we might hear about a telephone outage, hazardous materials spill or even a notice to evacuate our homes ahead of a wildland fire.
     EAS tests are part of our broadcast landscape, so what's the deal with the National Test? The situation is, that with major changes ahead for EAS with the development of Common Alerting Protocol, before CAP is fully integrated into all public warning platforms, the government, mainly FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, wants to know how well the current system really works and whether it would function properly in the event of a national disaster or major regional disaster. That's because in 60 years, EAS and its predecessors, EBS and CONELRAD, have never been activated or specifically tested on a national level. FEMA, the FCC and the National Weather Service, have come up with a plan to test EAS in the same manner in which they would issue a national or regional warning, starting at the White House and sending the message to the Primary Entry Point stations across the country that are linked to a special network dedicated solely to Presidential-level warnings. Most of the PEP stations are high power
     AM radio stations with wide-spread signals that cover broad areas of the country. FEMA estimates that when they've built out all 77 PEP station, they
 will reach about 90% of the population. The upcoming National Test will show whether or not FEMA is on the right track. WTIC-AM, WBZ and WABC are the PEP stations covering Connecticut. We are adding WTIC-FM in the near future but
 this may not be done before the test.
     So what is going to happen with this National Test and what is your role? Get out your calendar-- on Wednesday, November 9th at approximately 2:00 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM Pacific, the White House initiates the order for the test and FEMA will send it to those Primary Entry Point stations across the country. The PEP stations will immediately broadcast it, inserting it into the Emergency Alert System. Keep in mind, most PEP stations are also EAS Local Primary stations. Where they are not LP stations, the FCC still requires broadcasters to monitor their signals. From the Local Primary stations, the National Test will propagate
into almost every radio station, TV station and cable or subscription service in the country. Satellite television and radio services will also pick up the National Test and carry it on their channels. NPR will run the test through their "squawk" channel.
     The distribution process is expected to take only a few minutes as EAS equipment recognizes the EAN Event Code and takes over programming for the duration of the test. Even though this is a test of the Presidential-level activation, we havebeen told since the beginning of this planning process that the President will not voice the test message. You will mostly like hear a FEMA duty officer or staffer reading the test message. And the message will run longer than the usual EAS tests, lasting approximately two and a half minutes, to test the "seize and control" function of a EAN Event Code for a Presidential-level activation. This  test will begin with the usual EAS digital (duck quacks) tones and the 8 second
dual-tone attention signal and end with the usual EOM signal (more duck quacks).
     Be sure your staff knows to let the entire test run and that they have to wait for the EOM signal before returning to normal programming. This could be difficult--the person reading the message won't be a broadcast professional and may
pause or stumble as they read.
     With tones, the entire test could last for three minutes, so plan your programming break accordingly and be sure to schedule the ID that would normally run at the top of that hour to run instead a few minutes before the hour. It is also good practice to run a station ID after the test when you resume normal programming.
     It will be obvious to anyone watching or listening that this test is different than a normal EAS test. Not only will it run longer than a normal test or activation, if someone tries to tune to another station, they'll see or hear the test on that station too, and all up and down the dial. Also, the test message will include the phrase "This is a test" but it won't just be that phrase repeated over and over, there will be other information. TV stations should prepare a graphic or slide that says "This is a Test " because your EAS equipment will generate a crawl that indicates there is a National-level emergency. Your "Test" graphic will go a long way to ease any concerns or fears, especially among the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, about the test. FEMA and the FCC are both aware of the conflict between the EAS audio message and the text message that your EAS equipment will generate. It is one of the limitations of the current EAS technology. In addition, NBA is working with state and local emergency managers so they are aware of the test and their call centers and dispatchers are prepared for any calls that may come
in as a result of the test.
     The test process isn't over for broadcasters when the test ends. Stations are being asked to report back to the FCC on the results of the test, whether you received it, from whom you received it, whether you re-broadcast the test as required, the quality of the audio in the test and whether there were any problems with the test. The FCC and FEMA will compile these reports and determine what areas need improvement. The results will give both agencies a "baseline" again st which they     can measure changes and developments, including CAP, in future tests. The FCC has indicated that they are not interested in these reports as an "enforcement" tool, but stations should prepare now for the
 test, especially if you anticipate any problems receiving the test.
     This National Test is also notable for who or what is NOT involved. Although they are the biggest user of EAS, the National Weather Service won't be part of this test. NWS and NOAA Weather Radio have no way to issue a national warning across all their offices. In addition, this test will not involve the new EAS-CAP component. Not all states have their CAP servers on line yet.
     Probably the most important thing you can do to prepare for the test is to make sure your station engineer and Chief Operator have time to check your EAS equipment and make sure that it is functioning properly. FEMA is conducting a series of webinars on the National test and your staff should be encouraged to participate in these and the various email list serve's that are active right now in EAS matters.