AES convention looks to CALM loudness concerns
Sep 30, 2011 3:08 PM, By Michael Grotticelli
David Bialik, chairman of the Broadcast & Streaming Sessions, said the CALM Act has a lot of people confused and concerned about how to comply in the most cost-effective way.
With the government threatening to begin fining broadcasters that do not comply with new audio loudness levels, audio professionals can get the latest information on how to handle audio feeds coming at the upcoming Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention in New York City, October 19-22. The annual gathering of audio professionals and related equipment vendors is expected to attract between 16,000 and 18,000 attendees this year.
David Bialik, chairman of the Broadcast & Streaming Sessions, said the CALM Act has a lot of people confused and concerned about how to comply in the most cost-effective way. As he said, broadcasters do not gain any more revenue by adhering to the mandate.
“Broadcasters are not the end game anymore, because they are providing content to the various cable, satellite and telco services that are, in turn, adjusting audio levels as they see fit,” Bialik said. “Since Congress can’t seem to resolve the nation’s debt problem, or the various wars we are fighting, they decided to fight loudness. So broadcasters are left to jump through a few hoops or face fines of up to $10,000 for a first-time offense.”
[Editor’s Note: The FCC is supposedly going to hold the organization that last touches a specific program accountable, not the program originator. So, a producer would not be liable for the audio levels of their show once it’s distributed by a cable TV or satellite service.]
Bialik, who has helped developed the broadcast and streaming sessions since 1986, said this year’s “Broadcast Streaming” sessions provide a good mix of topics to address all of the different disciplines involved with producing TV programs and delivering them to viewers for the most enjoyable at-home experience.
“The industry is moving rapidly from a pure terrestrial broadcast model to include all types of audio and video streaming to the ever growing number of distribution platforms that have to be supported in order to stations to stay competitive,” he said. “Today’s broadcasters are managing a different type of bandwidth (IP) in addition to their traditional baseband infrastructure.”
In addition to an array of highly technical sessions to help engineers process and manage the ever-increasing number of audio sources, there are creative sessions such as “Listener Fatigue and Retention,” which will discuss how producers can create programs that keep viewers in their seats. This panel is moderated by David Wilson, CEA, and includes participations from panelists Ellyn Sheffield, Towson U. (MD); Sean Olive, Greg Monti, Citadel Media; Frank Foti, Omnia; Greg Ogonowski, Orban; Thomas Lund, TC Electronics; and Todd Baker, SRS Labs.
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
