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Wednesday, July 17, 2024

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NFL Announces Local Broadcast Partners for Historic First-Ever NFL Game in Brazil

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 09:24:00 -0400

The National Football League announces it will air its first-ever game in South America broadly across Brazil via major sports streaming channel CazéTV, and current broadcast partners RedeTV! and ESPN Brazil.

The Green Bay Packers will play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 6 at 9:15 p.m. local time (8:15 p.m. ET), with all three partners broadcasting live onsite at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil.

“We’re thrilled to work with CazéTV, and with current partners RedeTV! and ESPN Brazil to bring to life this historic game in São Paulo,” says Sameer Pabari, managing director, international media at the NFL. “With more than 35 million Brazilian NFL fans, the monumental reach offered via these innovative partnerships will take our game further — allowing both passionate and new NFL fans of all ages to experience this first ever NFL game played in their own country.”

As a new partner with more than 30 million followers across platforms, CazéTV will stream in Brazil Packers-Eagles across YouTube and Amazon Prime Video — both partners of the NFL — as well as Twitch and Samsung TV Plus, reaching a growing market of young football fans in Brazil.

Peacock (NBCUniversal) will exclusively stream the inaugural match up in São Paulo across the U.S. in multiple feeds, including Portuguese. Packers-Eagles will also be available on local broadcast stations in Philadelphia, Green Bay and Milwaukee, as well as on mobile devices with NFL+.

FCC Chairwoman Asks Telecoms About AI-Generated Political Robocall Efforts

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 09:07:00 -0400

FCC logoFCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent letters to nine telecommunications companies seeking answers about the steps they are taking to prevent future fraudulent robocalls that use artificial intelligence for political purposes. The letters follow the swift agency response to a fraudulent robocall campaign that used AI to clone the voice of President Biden to target voters in the New Hampshire primary election earlier this year. The use of AI-generated voice cloning to mimic the voices of politicians, celebrities, or even family members, can be used to sow confusion, scam consumers, and spread misinformation.

“This is just the beginning. We know that AI technologies will make it cheap and easy to flood our networks with deepfakes used to mislead and betray trust. It is especially chilling to see AI voice cloning used to impersonate candidates during elections. As AI tools become more accessible to bad actors and scammers, we need to do everything we can to keep this junk off our networks,” wrote Rosenworcel.

Following the New Hampshire robocall incident, the Federal Communications Commission issued a Declaratory Ruling that made clear that “artificial or prerecorded voice” robocalls using AI voice cloning technology violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The agency partnered in this effort with State Attorneys General, including the New Hampshire Attorney General, who is one of 49 State Attorneys General who have signed on to a Memorandum of Understanding to work with the FCC on junk robocalls. This ruling gives State AGs the authority to go after bad actors behind these calls and seek damages under the law.

After identifying the carrier behind this scam, the FCC immediately sent a cease-and-desist letter and allowed all other carriers to stop carrying this traffic. In May, the agency took two enforcement actions. First, it proposed a $6 million fine for the party responsible for the scam calls. Second, it proposed a $2 million fine for the carrier that put these junk calls on the line and apparently failed to follow the FCC’s call authentication rules.

The letters were sent to AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DISH, Frontier, Lumen, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

AJA Unveils Ki Pro GO2 Multi-Channel HEVC/AVC Recorder

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:43:28 -0400

Ki Pro GO2AJA Video Systems unveils the Ki Pro GO2, the next generation of its Ki Pro GO multi-channel HD/SD recorder. Sporting an upgraded feature set, the portable, 2RU device facilitates up to four channels of simultaneous H.265 (HEVC) or H.264 (AVC) recording to USB 3.0 drives or network storage with redundant recording and single-channel playback.

Ki Pro GO2 is designed to help production professionals produce higher quality images at lower bit rates, allowing for longer recording times. It also provides flexible connectivity, including four 3G-SDI and four HDMI digital video inputs, so they can connect to a wide range of video sources.

“Adapting to a range of production scenarios has grown vital to modern productions, whether on set or in a venue, so AJA keeps versatility top of mind when designing new products. Ki Pro GO2 brings professionals all the great features that Ki Pro GO has to offer, with a sleek design and the added flexibility to record in H.265 or H.264, depending upon each production’s unique needs,” shares AJA president Nick Rashby. “The product was inspired by user feedback in several regions across the globe where H.265 is used extensively.”

NAB TV Board Affirms Commitment to Local Broadcast Television

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 11:18:37 -0400

old TVThe NAB Television Board of Directors this week adopted a policy statement reaffirming the association’s commitment to protecting viewers’ access to live, local broadcast stations and the vital local journalism and trusted information they freely provide.

“NAB is the voice of local broadcast stations that are serving the public in critical ways,” said Joint Board Chair Perry Sook, chair of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. “While certain NAB members may have additional media interests, this trade association’s mission is to protect consumer access to the trusted news and content broadcast stations provide to local communities in this age of misinformation and disinformation. Local journalism is the bedrock of our democracy and our advocacy agenda will be guided by this singular purpose. This policy statement reaffirms that mission.”

“NAB is dedicated to helping our local stations thrive and ensuring consumer access to live, local information,” said President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “Local broadcasters reach every corner of the U.S. with the most watched entertainment, news and sports, all freely available. In the age of Google, Facebook and TikTok, this association must be focused on fighting for policies to enable the indispensable and trusted programming that broadcasters deliver to their viewers and listeners every day.”

FCC Chair Calls on Agency to Update Orbital Debris Mitigation Rules

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 09:05:00 -0400

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today called on the agency to update the Federal Communication Commission’s orbital debris mitigation rules to limit the risks posed by accidental explosions in space by adding a specific, quantitative metric that satellites must meet. If adopted, the updated rules would require satellite applicants to assess and limit the probability of debris-generating accidental explosions to be less 1 in 1,000 (0.001) for each satellite.

“We can no longer afford to launch new satellites into our skies without being thoughtful about space sustainability,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “Our orbital debris mitigation efforts will help preserve the orbital environment to protect services we rely on and allow new services to be launched.”

The Third Report and Order circulated today is part of the Commission’s continuing efforts to mitigate the generation of orbital debris in light of the increasing number of satellites in orbit. The probability metric in the proposed rules is consistent with the U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices and would provide satellite operators an objective and transparent benchmark for demonstrating as part of their applications to the Commission that they have assessed and limited the probability of accidental explosions during and after the completion of mission operations. The new requirement would be phased in one year after its publication in the Federal Register to allow potential applicants to prepare.

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Daily Tech Term

Fade Margin

In FM communication systems, the difference in dB between the power level at the receiver under nonfading conditions and the receiver threshold (the point where the signal-to-noise ratio of the receiver is below an acceptable level).

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Weekly Tech Tip

 

The ABCs of Multimeter Safety from Fluke

Where safety is a concern, choosing a multimeter is like choosing a motorcycle helmet, if you have a “ten dollar” head, choose a “ten dollar” helmet. If you value your head, get a quality helmet. The hazards of motorcycle riding are obvious, but what’s the issue with multimeters? As long as you choose a multimeter with a high enough voltage rating, aren’t you safe? Voltage is voltage, isn’t it?

Not exactly. Engineers who analyze multimeter safety often discover that failed units were subjected to a much higher voltage than the user thought he was measuring. There are the occasional accidents when the meter, rated for low voltage (1000 V or less), was used to measure medium voltage, such as 4160 V. Just as common, the knock-out blow had nothing to do with misuse - it was a momentary high-voltage spike or transient that hit the multimeter input without warning.

To protect you against transients, safety must be built into the test equipment. What performance specification should you look for, especially if you know that you could be working on high-energy circuits? The task of defining safety standards for test equipment is addressed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). This organization develops international safety standards for electrical test equipment.

The good folks at Fluke have put together a truly informative and important guide on the subject. It describes in full detail the how's and why's of the subject and how to get the job done and stay safe every time. You can read the entire paper here.

Fluke Scopemeter 2Ch 200MHZ 2.5 GS/s CAT IV Rated Color - Americas

 

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