The author is CEO of manufacturer BW Broadcast.
Dear U.S. broadcasters:
I’m sure most people in our industry were quite shocked to read the FCC citation that involved BW Broadcast recently. I was as surprised as anybody else to have read the news of the citation sent to our friends in the U.S., the leading global broadcast equipment supplier SCMS. I was especially surprised because all of our broadcast products meet global regularity technical standards, and more so because we have been certifying multiple broadcast transmitters built on the same technology platform with the FCC for many years now.
It appears that our company was subject to a malicious complaint, which in our opinion was able to manipulate such an esteemed organization such as the FCC. It was also frustrating to ourselves and SCMS that some level of due diligence or dialogue was not undertaken by the necessary people.
Product testing at the BW Broadcast factory.
It was a tough last week, but I am so glad to hear that the FCC acknowledged that the product we market to LPFMs is now deemed acceptable to them.
BW Broadcast takes performance incredibly seriously and has invested heavily in automated test systems. We are probably one of the only manufacturers that runs full fast automated conducted emissions testing on every single product shipped. That means 88, 98 and 108 MHz, every harmonic and carrier emission — and we do this for every product before it’s boxed for shipment. Our database can recall every performance specification of every item that goes out the door. Our in-house GTEM cell handles radiated emissions and immunity testing, giving us internal ongoing performance compliance confidence, even after product variant changes. Visitors to our facility are often overwhelmed with our box-build, pre-flight, calibration, automated test and final soak test procedures.
BW Broadcast has always been and is still committed to performance and global regulatory compliance — and that won’t ever change. Going beyond what the other guys do is what drives us.
Our ethos of value coupled with performance is one of the reasons our transmitters are the number one choice globally for community radio stations, and also why we have become the go-to guys for major sporting events, stadiums, colleges, drive-ins and special events. From the recent Ryder Cup, the Olympics, the soccer World Cup, the Euro championships, Wimbledon, Glastonbury, Burning Man, the Rugby World Cup and other high-profile events, the products from BW Broadcast are used, demanded and respected globally, with more than 20,000 transmitters sold in the last 15 years.
The irony of this situation is the U.S. federal government sought to ban the marketing and sale of a product that itself has purchased in large quantities.
I would like to thank all of the BW Broadcast customers globally who have supported our brand — most importantly and topically, the United States broadcast industry, who have supported us for many years now, and who we really appreciate for making us feel like part of your industry.
NAB and other regional shows can’t come too soon, where I’ll be looking forward to sharing the details of the story in more details. Or catch me on social media in one of the many broadcast-related groups.
