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Wzlx
- Thread starter bharlow
- Start date
Lucylu said:The post 9/11 rent reduction must have run out. :
with all the super upscale expansion(luxury condos, hotels and retail) going on around the pru, the rents have tripled in that area of the city in a matter of months. doesn't look like a recession to me....sumner broadcating is operating on a very tight budget. sumner himself is eating instant noodles for lunch thesedays. no more sushi from nobu.
R
rapking
Guest
Anybody going into the Old TV- 56 Building in Dorchester ?jlehmann said:
K
keyjock
Guest
They are going to be using the NEW system developed by Telos Systems in partnership with AXIA and their Livewire tecnology. Caveat is that it is beta, so don't expext a smooth transition. System will run along with AudioVault, so it should be really interesting in the first few days or so once they make the move.
Perhaps the tech aspects of this studio set-up will make it over to the engineering board.
If you drive by 83 Leo Birmingham (Oldies and 'BCN), you can actually see inside the studios (4) being constructed ... tinted windows haven't been installed yet.
I know someone on the inside that may forward some photos of the site.
W
webcastboy
Guest
Last I heard, WZLX is doing 5.1 surround already. It's just only on their HD Radio signal, though. There was a big to-do about it at last April's big NAB show in Vegas. And yes, they are indeed consolidating with the other CBS Radio signals in Brighton, WODS and WBCN. I believe it was largely precipitated by WBCN's vacating their old Boylston Street digs a year or so ago b/c the Red Sox wanted that space for offices (IIRC the Sox were the direct owners of that building). The move makes sense; the facilities at the Pru were old and the benefits of consolidating with WODS and WBCN were unmistakable. Plus the rent is a helluva lot cheaper.
I think the big question mark is whether they'll move WBMX over there as well...seems silly since it's barely three blocks away now, and the WBMX plant is already tied in heavily to WBZ-AM (which ain't moving). My hunch is that BMX will stay where it is, but who knows?
The technology isn't really beta, per se, either. 5.1 surround has been around and tested for at least three or four years. KUVO in Denver has been running 5.1 (using Neural, IIRC) for most of that time...THEY were true beta testers. But WZLX has the title of first to run 24/7 in 5.1, I think. There may be some caveats to that claim. FWIW, the 5.1 surround sound official standard (weak as it is) was just adopted quite recently (last month, I think).
The Axia stuff definitely isn't beta; Telos has sold over 400 Axia systems as of last month. The entire Minnesota Public Radio plant (which is gigantic, over a dozen studios plus many edit booths) is all-Axia; they were an early adopter. I personally been working a lot with an Axia system lately, it's cool stuff. Definitely the future of mix consoles.
I think the big question mark is whether they'll move WBMX over there as well...seems silly since it's barely three blocks away now, and the WBMX plant is already tied in heavily to WBZ-AM (which ain't moving). My hunch is that BMX will stay where it is, but who knows?
The technology isn't really beta, per se, either. 5.1 surround has been around and tested for at least three or four years. KUVO in Denver has been running 5.1 (using Neural, IIRC) for most of that time...THEY were true beta testers. But WZLX has the title of first to run 24/7 in 5.1, I think. There may be some caveats to that claim. FWIW, the 5.1 surround sound official standard (weak as it is) was just adopted quite recently (last month, I think).
The Axia stuff definitely isn't beta; Telos has sold over 400 Axia systems as of last month. The entire Minnesota Public Radio plant (which is gigantic, over a dozen studios plus many edit booths) is all-Axia; they were an early adopter. I personally been working a lot with an Axia system lately, it's cool stuff. Definitely the future of mix consoles.
WZLX will be switching to MPEG 5.1 surround on the HD-1 channel shortly after they move. They were going to switch to MPEG surround on the HD-1 channel sooner, but Ibiquity was several months late with the software update needed for their Harris importer.
The discrete MPEG 5.1 surround system is not to be confused with the Neural "matrixed" system. The Neural system is not true, discrete 6 channel, but a matrixed system based on some trickery and illusion. Frank Foti of Telos-Omnia demonstrated the difference between the two systems at last year's NAB. When a discrete surround recording was played through the Neural system, there was considerable "leakage" between the channels. Elton John's "Your Song" was played, where Elton's voice is solo in the center channel. You could hear music behind the voice on the Neural system. On MPEG, the voice was totally solo (as was the original recording). Not only that, but the Neural system attempts to collapse the 6 channels down to stereo and mono. The results were terrible, with the stereo mix going haywire and certain instruments completely vanishing. Dire Straits' 5.1 recording of "Walk Of Life", when listened to in stereo mode through the Neural system, completely lost the calliope before the vocal. The MPEG system does not have this problem, because it is actually 8 channels: 6 for surround, and 2 for the original stereo mix. When listeneing in surround, you hear channels 1-6 only. When listeneng in stereo, you hear only channels 7 and 8. There is no attempt to try to collapse the surround into stereo or mono. It really is the superior system.
There is a very informative article about MPEG surround (which has some information about WZLX) in the current issue of Radio Ink.
Evidently, the receivers are in development, but they will have some beta receivers around Boston for reception tests.
According to the article, WZLX also plans to stream in surround.
The discrete MPEG 5.1 surround system is not to be confused with the Neural "matrixed" system. The Neural system is not true, discrete 6 channel, but a matrixed system based on some trickery and illusion. Frank Foti of Telos-Omnia demonstrated the difference between the two systems at last year's NAB. When a discrete surround recording was played through the Neural system, there was considerable "leakage" between the channels. Elton John's "Your Song" was played, where Elton's voice is solo in the center channel. You could hear music behind the voice on the Neural system. On MPEG, the voice was totally solo (as was the original recording). Not only that, but the Neural system attempts to collapse the 6 channels down to stereo and mono. The results were terrible, with the stereo mix going haywire and certain instruments completely vanishing. Dire Straits' 5.1 recording of "Walk Of Life", when listened to in stereo mode through the Neural system, completely lost the calliope before the vocal. The MPEG system does not have this problem, because it is actually 8 channels: 6 for surround, and 2 for the original stereo mix. When listeneing in surround, you hear channels 1-6 only. When listeneng in stereo, you hear only channels 7 and 8. There is no attempt to try to collapse the surround into stereo or mono. It really is the superior system.
There is a very informative article about MPEG surround (which has some information about WZLX) in the current issue of Radio Ink.
Evidently, the receivers are in development, but they will have some beta receivers around Boston for reception tests.
According to the article, WZLX also plans to stream in surround.
Re: WZLX
WZLX will probably be tucked in at the new headquarters by March 5.
What I want to know is:
---How big is that old TV 38 building? (It sure looks small from the outside and in the lobby)
---How many stations will be there - WODS, WBCN, WZLX with WBZ and BMX around the corner -
---(more specifically) WBZ 1170 SF Road and WBM(X) 1200 over on Soldiers Field Road
http://www.mix985.com/pages/32509.php
Mix 98-5 / WBMX-FM
1200 Soldiers Field Road
Boston, MA 02134
Did CBS takeover that Greater Media building where WBOS/MAGIC used to be?
Side note: (BMX and ZLX, hmmm...two X Stations for the CBS X files...)
http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRa.../12/2007&SU=CM&BPER=6.3&HPER=&OPER=&NSD=&CE=0
==============================================================================
Why does Entercom have only EEI, RKO, MKK, AAF - because AAF is on two signals?
Clear Channel has these stations in the market: WGIR, JMN, XKS, SRS, KISS AM, KOX
Why do they get 6? GIR in Manchester too far away?
There are 38 on the Arbitrons for BOSTON , not including WILD FM (now WAAF). Are we considered "30-44 radio stations in this market"? (not including college non-commercial, GBH, BUR, etc) or do we fall under 45 or more?
FCC RULES UNDER REVIEW IN 2006:
http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/rules.html
Local Radio Ownership Limit - The current rules reflect numerical caps set by Congress in 1996. The restraints are based on a sliding scale that increases with the size of the local market. As a general rule, one entity may own (a) up to five commercial radio stations, not more than three of which are in the same service (i.e., AM or FM), in a market with 14 or fewer radio stations; (b) up to six commercial radio stations, not more than four of which are in the same service, in a market with between 15 and 29 radio stations; (c) up to seven commercial radio stations, not more than four of which are in the same service, in a radio market with between 30 and 44 (inclusive) radio stations; and (d) up to eight commercial radio stations, not more than five of which are in the same service, in a radio market with 45 or more radio stations.
WZLX will probably be tucked in at the new headquarters by March 5.
What I want to know is:
---How big is that old TV 38 building? (It sure looks small from the outside and in the lobby)
---How many stations will be there - WODS, WBCN, WZLX with WBZ and BMX around the corner -
---(more specifically) WBZ 1170 SF Road and WBM(X) 1200 over on Soldiers Field Road
http://www.mix985.com/pages/32509.php
Mix 98-5 / WBMX-FM
1200 Soldiers Field Road
Boston, MA 02134
Did CBS takeover that Greater Media building where WBOS/MAGIC used to be?
Side note: (BMX and ZLX, hmmm...two X Stations for the CBS X files...)
http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRa.../12/2007&SU=CM&BPER=6.3&HPER=&OPER=&NSD=&CE=0
==============================================================================
Why does Entercom have only EEI, RKO, MKK, AAF - because AAF is on two signals?
Clear Channel has these stations in the market: WGIR, JMN, XKS, SRS, KISS AM, KOX
Why do they get 6? GIR in Manchester too far away?
There are 38 on the Arbitrons for BOSTON , not including WILD FM (now WAAF). Are we considered "30-44 radio stations in this market"? (not including college non-commercial, GBH, BUR, etc) or do we fall under 45 or more?
FCC RULES UNDER REVIEW IN 2006:
http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/rules.html
Local Radio Ownership Limit - The current rules reflect numerical caps set by Congress in 1996. The restraints are based on a sliding scale that increases with the size of the local market. As a general rule, one entity may own (a) up to five commercial radio stations, not more than three of which are in the same service (i.e., AM or FM), in a market with 14 or fewer radio stations; (b) up to six commercial radio stations, not more than four of which are in the same service, in a market with between 15 and 29 radio stations; (c) up to seven commercial radio stations, not more than four of which are in the same service, in a radio market with between 30 and 44 (inclusive) radio stations; and (d) up to eight commercial radio stations, not more than five of which are in the same service, in a radio market with 45 or more radio stations.
W
webcastboy
Guest
Any matrixed surround system is not going to be as good as discrete. The difference is that it saves a tremendous amount of overheard in the STL, in the transmitter system, and in the receivers. These are not invalid concerns. Especially since it can impact how much bandwidth you've got for multicasting on FM HD Radio, and frankly I've always thought multicasting (HD-2, HD-3, etc) is a helluva lot more of a "killer app" for HD Radio than 5.1 surround is.
I heard about Frank's presentation, a lot of people screamed at him about it, too. Some, not all, I think was justified. I think the best way to describe it is that while Frank is an engineer, he's also got a product he's selling. So you cannot view him as 100% objective. FWIW, I also don't completely trust Neural, either. Even though I know KUVO C.E. Mike Pappas is quite anal about audio quality.
Read up here: [url]http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/surround/index.shtml[/url]
Lots of good articles, including Neural's rebuttals to Frank's preso.
I heard about Frank's presentation, a lot of people screamed at him about it, too. Some, not all, I think was justified. I think the best way to describe it is that while Frank is an engineer, he's also got a product he's selling. So you cannot view him as 100% objective. FWIW, I also don't completely trust Neural, either. Even though I know KUVO C.E. Mike Pappas is quite anal about audio quality.
Read up here: [url]http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/surround/index.shtml[/url]
Lots of good articles, including Neural's rebuttals to Frank's preso.
Re: WZLX
I guess they didn't have the opportunity to buy any other signals that they considered worth buying. They do also own and operate WEEI rebroadcast stations in Worcester, Western MA, and Rhode Island.
I'm not sure if WGIR-FM would be included in the Boston market ownership totals because it originates from the Manchester, NH market, but even if so, WXKS-AM and WKOX are not FM signals, so CC would still be under the limits allowed for each band.
You're looking at only the 12+ Arbitrons which are published on-line to the general public, which only list stations with a 0.4 share or better. There are still many more commercial stations in the market that were under 0.4 so they didn't make that list, but they are still certainly commercial stations in the market, and counted as part of the total of stations in the market.
These include WSRO, WROL, WBIX, WBNW, WTTT, WESX, WMKI, WJDA, WRCA, WLYN, WAZN, WWZN, WNTN, WNSH, WHRB (commercial college), WATD, WBOQ, and many more if you include other outlying stations to the north, west and south around (or beyond) Route 495 that don't really hit Boston proper, but are still serving parts of the suburban market that are included in the Boston market footprint (Brockton, Lowell, Worcester, etc..). So, I'd say that the Boston market is well over 45 stations, even without non-comm's included.
Varulven said:
I guess they didn't have the opportunity to buy any other signals that they considered worth buying. They do also own and operate WEEI rebroadcast stations in Worcester, Western MA, and Rhode Island.
Varulven said:
I'm not sure if WGIR-FM would be included in the Boston market ownership totals because it originates from the Manchester, NH market, but even if so, WXKS-AM and WKOX are not FM signals, so CC would still be under the limits allowed for each band.
Varulven said:
You're looking at only the 12+ Arbitrons which are published on-line to the general public, which only list stations with a 0.4 share or better. There are still many more commercial stations in the market that were under 0.4 so they didn't make that list, but they are still certainly commercial stations in the market, and counted as part of the total of stations in the market.
These include WSRO, WROL, WBIX, WBNW, WTTT, WESX, WMKI, WJDA, WRCA, WLYN, WAZN, WWZN, WNTN, WNSH, WHRB (commercial college), WATD, WBOQ, and many more if you include other outlying stations to the north, west and south around (or beyond) Route 495 that don't really hit Boston proper, but are still serving parts of the suburban market that are included in the Boston market footprint (Brockton, Lowell, Worcester, etc..). So, I'd say that the Boston market is well over 45 stations, even without non-comm's included.
K
keyjock
Guest
Re: Wzlx - TV 38 Building
The building is actually very spacious. It's a three story structure. From the front (Leo Birmingham Parkway) you are looking at level three, that is where the WZLX studios (4) are located with adjacent office/sales space. From the rear (Soldiers Field Place) you will see the all three levels.
On the first floor, you have WBCN, where the 38 studios, storage etc. where once located: 4 studios, conference room and sales/programming and promotions offices. And finally on the second floor, you have the original radio occupant WODS: 3 studios, conference room, engineering area for all three stations, sales, programming and promotions. Also on second level you have offices of Greg Stressel, Tony Beradini (sp) and Ted Jordan etc. and a kitchen. There no more space for another station. Only problem with the building, no parking for staff of ALL three stations
The building is actually very spacious. It's a three story structure. From the front (Leo Birmingham Parkway) you are looking at level three, that is where the WZLX studios (4) are located with adjacent office/sales space. From the rear (Soldiers Field Place) you will see the all three levels.
On the first floor, you have WBCN, where the 38 studios, storage etc. where once located: 4 studios, conference room and sales/programming and promotions offices. And finally on the second floor, you have the original radio occupant WODS: 3 studios, conference room, engineering area for all three stations, sales, programming and promotions. Also on second level you have offices of Greg Stressel, Tony Beradini (sp) and Ted Jordan etc. and a kitchen. There no more space for another station. Only problem with the building, no parking for staff of ALL three stations
Re: Wzlx - TV 38 Building
So, what are they going to do about that? I don't know if there's even any on-street parking permitted in that area. Perhaps have them park at 1170 SFR and run a shuttle van back and forth all day long?
I could just see them losing some potential big advertising account because the executive of the client company can't get a parking space when coming in for a meeting with the sales manager.
keyjock said:
So, what are they going to do about that? I don't know if there's even any on-street parking permitted in that area. Perhaps have them park at 1170 SFR and run a shuttle van back and forth all day long?
I could just see them losing some potential big advertising account because the executive of the client company can't get a parking space when coming in for a meeting with the sales manager.
Re: Wzlx - TV 38 Building
cbs radio sales office is in the mix building.
Eli Polonsky said:
cbs radio sales office is in the mix building.
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