57-508: Equity Media Holdings Corporation was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas that owned and operated television stations across the United States . Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting , a name later used for its broadcast station subsidiary. The company had a focus on Hispanic and Asian American communities in large markets while owning
114-424: A cable converter box with decoding equipment in homes , the latter also enables subscription -based channels, pay-tv and pay-per-view services. In his essay, John Durham Peters wrote that communication is a tool used for dissemination. Peters stated, " Dissemination is a lens—sometimes a usefully distorting one—that helps us tackle basic issues such as interaction, presence, and space and time ... on
171-486: A conservative talk format in Little Rock, Arkansas ( licensed to enclave Cammack Village ). The station is currently owned by Salem Media Group , through licensee Salem Communications Holding Corporation. The station's studios are south of downtown near Philander Smith College , and its transmitter tower is located on Shinall Mountain , near the Chenal Valley neighborhood of Little Rock. On June 1, 1998, after
228-482: A dish antenna . The term broadcast television can refer to the television programs of such networks. The sequencing of content in a broadcast is called a schedule . As with all technological endeavors, a number of technical terms and slang have developed. A list of these terms can be found at List of broadcasting terms . Television and radio programs are distributed through radio broadcasting or cable , often both simultaneously. By coding signals and having
285-412: A 10-day stunt with various genres of music, 101.1 FM signed on as modern rock -formatted "Lick 101" KDRE. According to FCC filings, the station went silent sometime around November 1, 2008, as the licensee was unable to negotiate an extension of the contract with the owner of the transmitter location. The FCC granted permission to remain silent while the station's owner put together the paperwork to move
342-491: A buyer can be found. Full-service stations taken dark at the end of digital transition include: Affected stations sold to Daystar : Affected stations sold to Max Media , then closed down: Affected station sold to Pinnacle Media: Affected station sold to Tyler Media: Affected station sold to Valley Bank, and then Fusion Communications: Often, the stations went dark on the June 12, 2009, analog shutdown date only to return to
399-424: A client of Equity's C.A.S.H. system. In June 2008, Equity instituted a companywide suspension of news programs. In November 2008, Equity began attempts to sell all of its TV stations and cut most of the company's top management in a move which Chief Restructuring Officer Paul Brissette believed could allow the company a chance to avoid bankruptcy. Equity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 8, 2008, after
456-408: A combination of English-language network affiliates in medium and small markets. Equity was known for its use of broadcast automation to control dozens of small, local VHF and UHF television broadcasting stations from one central Little Rock location; the feeds were readily visible on free-to-air satellite television through much of North America, despite the very small terrestrial footprint of
513-520: A contract conflict between Equity and Luken Communications, the owners of RTN, interrupted the programming on many RTN affiliates with Luken alleging that Equity had left many obligations to RTN's creditors, including programming suppliers, unpaid. As a result, Luken restored a national RTN feed from its headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee , via SES Americom -owned satellite AMC 9 (83.0°W), with individual feeds to non-Equity-owned affiliates following on
570-484: A deal with the Southland Conference to carry University of Central Arkansas basketball games on KKYK-DT , effective January 14, 2009. Silver Point extended a $ 58 million "debtor in possession" loan on February 2, 2009, to keep Equity on-air under chief restructuring officer Kim D. Kelly, but at a hefty interest rate premium: 8% above the current London Interbank Offered Rate . The chief restructuring officer
627-405: A few years, and signing them on exclusively as digital-only stations which were located within the core of their market area, despite losing out on analog viewership in their early histories. The former Equity full-service stations therefore represented the single largest block of stations to go dark on the June 12, 2009, digital transition date. A trait unique to Equity Media Holdings Corporation
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#1732851750414684-521: A format intended to be fed directly to a terrestrial television transmitter with no further studio processing. Satellite transponder space was rented from Intelsat , which claimed as of December 2008 to be owed over $ 580,000. As much of the free-to air satellite programming in North America consists of ethnic-language or specialised content, Equity's demise represented a significant loss in available English/Spanish-language Ku-band free television in
741-480: A new subchannel network owned by MGM and Weigel Broadcasting . In mid-December 2008, Equity filed notice with the Federal Communications Commission that more than a dozen of its individual analog-only full service stations would not be able to acquire equipment for digital TV transition without court approval, and these recently constructed full-power stations would therefore go dark at
798-613: A piecemeal basis. Equity owned or operated stations lost RTN affiliation immediately, though Luken vowed to find new affiliates for RTN in those areas. A message displayed on-screen by Equity's stations in place of RTN gave Henry Luken's cell number as a contact number for viewers. As a result of this dispute, Luken pulled out of a deal to buy Equity's southwest Florida stations. By January 7, 2009, various Equity-owned or operated stations were broadcasting classic movies (or in some cases, Retro Jams ) in place of RTN's content;. Around January 21, some of these stations began to carry This TV ,
855-517: A restructuring or undertake a combination of these and other actions." An earlier indication of Equity's troubles came one month previously when its board of directors appointed its chairman, Henry Luken, to replace Equity founder Larry Morton as president and CEO. Morton remained the chair, president and CEO of Retro Television Network. Retro Television Network was sold to Luken's company, Luken Communications, on June 25, 2008. Luken Communications continued to operate RTN out of Little Rock, Arkansas as
912-442: A signal that will reach the target audience . Broadcasters typically arrange audiences into entire assemblies. In terms of media broadcasting, a radio show can gather a large number of followers who tune in every day to specifically listen to that specific disc jockey . The disc jockey follows the script for their radio show and just talks into the microphone . They do not expect immediate feedback from any listeners. The message
969-722: A single station or television station , it is sent through the studio/transmitter link to the transmitter and hence from the television antenna located on the radio masts and towers out to the world. Programming may also come through a communications satellite , played either live or recorded for later transmission. Networks of stations may simulcast the same programming at the same time, originally via microwave link, now usually by satellite. Distribution to stations or networks may also be through physical media, such as magnetic tape , compact disc (CD), DVD , and sometimes other formats. Usually these are included in another broadcast, such as when electronic news gathering (ENG) returns
1026-476: A story to the station for inclusion on a news programme . The final leg of broadcast distribution is how the signal gets to the listener or viewer. It may come over the air as with a radio station or television station to an antenna and radio receiver , or may come through cable television or cable radio (or wireless cable ) via the station or directly from a network. The Internet may also bring either internet radio or streaming media television to
1083-564: A wireless communication using the then-newly discovered phenomenon of radio waves , showing by 1901 that they could be transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean. This was the start of wireless telegraphy by radio. Audio radio broadcasting began experimentally in the first decade of the 20th century. On 17 December 1902, a transmission from the Marconi station in Glace Bay , Nova Scotia, Canada, became
1140-726: Is broadcast across airwaves throughout the community, but the listeners cannot always respond immediately, especially since many radio shows are recorded prior to the actual air time. Conversely, receivers can select opt-in or opt-out of getting broadcast messages using an Excel file, offering them control over the information they receive Broadcast engineering is the field of electrical engineering , and now to some extent computer engineering and information technology , which deals with radio and television broadcasting. Audio engineering and RF engineering are also essential parts of broadcast engineering, being their own subsets of electrical engineering. Broadcast engineering involves both
1197-401: Is particularly true of performances of musical artists on radio when they visit for an in-studio concert performance. Similar situations have occurred in television production (" The Cosby Show is recorded in front of a live television studio audience ") and news broadcasting . A broadcast may be distributed through several physical means. If coming directly from the radio studio at
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#17328517504141254-593: Is referred to as over the air (OTA) or terrestrial broadcasting and in most countries requires a broadcasting license . Transmissions using a wire or cable, like cable television (which also retransmits OTA stations with their consent ), are also considered broadcasts but do not necessarily require a license (though in some countries, a license is required). In the 2000s, transmissions of television and radio programs via streaming digital technology have increasingly been referred to as broadcasting as well. In 1894, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi began developing
1311-476: Is that the public may learn the outcome of an event before the recording is broadcast, which may be a spoiler . Prerecording may be used to prevent announcers from deviating from an officially approved script during a live radio broadcast, as occurred with propaganda broadcasts from Germany in the 1940s and with Radio Moscow in the 1980s. Many events are advertised as being live, although they are often recorded live (sometimes called " live -to- tape "). This
1368-421: Is varied continuously with respect to the information) or digital (information is encoded as a set of discrete values). Historically, there have been several methods used for broadcasting electronic media audio and video to the general public: There are several means of providing financial support for continuous broadcasting: Broadcasters may rely on a combination of these business models . For example, in
1425-757: The Nipkow disk and thus became known as the mechanical television . It formed the basis of experimental broadcasts done by the British Broadcasting Corporation beginning on 30 September 1929. However, for most of the 20th century, televisions depended on the cathode-ray tube invented by Karl Braun . The first version of such a television to show promise was produced by Philo Farnsworth and demonstrated to his family on 7 September 1927. After World War II , interrupted experiments resumed and television became an important home entertainment broadcast medium, using VHF and UHF spectrum. Satellite broadcasting
1482-411: The studio and transmitter aspects (the entire airchain ), as well as remote broadcasts . Every station has a broadcast engineer , though one may now serve an entire station group in a city. In small media markets the engineer may work on a contract basis for one or more stations as needed. KDXE (FM) KDXE (101.1 MHz , "101.1 FM The Answer") is an FM radio station broadcasting
1539-531: The Equity-related securities were de-listed permanently. The sale of Equity's flagship Little Rock TV station KWBF (now Nexstar Broadcasting Group 's KARZ-TV ) closed at the end of January 2009; similarly named RTN radio station KWBF-FM had also been sold (to Flinn Broadcasting Corporation) and went silent in November 2008, later returning as KZTS under its new owner. Equity had also unexpectedly terminated
1596-549: The US. Under the protection of Chapter 11 bankruptcy , Equity Media Holdings Corporation sold most of these TV stations at an auction in Dallas on April 16, 2009, for a total of $ 21.3 million. Other stations were sold at later dates or ultimately went dark. The following stations were pending purchases by Equity Media in 2008 but never completed: The following construction permits had been issued to Equity before its 2008 bankruptcy filing;
1653-681: The United States, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS, television) supplement public membership subscriptions and grants with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which is allocated bi-annually by Congress. US public broadcasting corporate and charitable grants are generally given in consideration of underwriting spots which differ from commercial advertisements in that they are governed by specific FCC restrictions, which prohibit
1710-421: The advocacy of a product or a "call to action". The first regular television broadcasts started in 1937. Broadcasts can be classified as recorded or live . The former allows correcting errors, and removing superfluous or undesired material, rearranging it, applying slow-motion and repetitions, and other techniques to enhance the program. However, some live events like sports television can include some of
1767-405: The agenda of any future communication theory in general". Dissemination focuses on the message being relayed from one main source to one large audience without the exchange of dialogue in between. It is possible for the message to be changed or corrupted by government officials once the main source releases it. There is no way to predetermine how the larger population or audience will absorb
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1824-490: The air digitally under their new owners just before the June 2010 FCC expiry date of their digital TV construction permits. WNGS and WNYI are among this group. Equity's situation was unique due to its rapid and recent expansion. Many of its full-service stations were built during the last few years of digital transition and therefore were in the position of needing to flash-cut to digital in 2009 or cease operation. Established full-service broadcasters (who signed on before
1881-521: The aspects including slow-motion clips of important goals/hits, etc., in between the live television telecast. American radio-network broadcasters habitually forbade prerecorded broadcasts in the 1930s and 1940s, requiring radio programs played for the Eastern and Central time zones to be repeated three hours later for the Pacific time zone (See: Effects of time on North American broadcasting ). This restriction
1938-439: The central high-powered broadcast tower transmits a high-frequency electromagnetic wave to numerous receivers. The high-frequency wave sent by the tower is modulated with a signal containing visual or audio information. The receiver is then tuned so as to pick up the high-frequency wave and a demodulator is used to retrieve the signal containing the visual or audio information. The broadcast signal can be either analog (signal
1995-403: The company defaulted on a loan worth $ 41.5 million. One of its creditors, Silver Point Finance, soon filed to change the bankruptcy from a voluntary Chapter 11 to an involuntary Chapter 7 in an attempt to foreclose on Equity assets, as they felt that there was no way Equity could reorganize under Chapter 11, nor did they have enough funds to cover payroll. Silver Point ended its attempts to push
2052-499: The company directly into liquidation on December 23, in return for the appointment of Kim D. Kelly, a new Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) who exerted near-total control to run the company and handle decisions on the sale of the individual stations. Trading in Equity Media Holdings Corporation (EMDA.Q) common stock, units, and warrants were suspended on December 18, 2008; NASDAQ announced on January 15, 2009, that
2109-447: The company was unable to build the stations. In December 2008, Equity's key liabilities included: Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium , but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves ), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began with AM radio , which came into popular use around 1920 with
2166-559: The development of radio for the wartime purposes of aircraft and land communication, radio navigation, and radar. Development of stereo FM broadcasting of radio began in the 1930s in the United States and the 1970s in the United Kingdom, displacing AM as the dominant commercial standard. On 25 March 1925, John Logie Baird demonstrated the transmission of moving pictures at the London department store Selfridges . Baird's device relied upon
2223-447: The end of digital transition (originally scheduled for February 17, 2009; since extended to June 12, 2009). Stations with existing digital broadcasts or low-power broadcasting stations on channels 2 - 51 would not be affected. Equity had requested that the FCC extend the expiry dates of digital construction permits for these stations, a possible means of retaining the affected licenses until
2280-505: The general public or a relatively small subset; the point is that anyone with the appropriate receiving technology and equipment (e.g., a radio or television set) can receive the signal. The field of broadcasting includes both government-managed services such as public radio , community radio and public television , and private commercial radio and commercial television . The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, part 97 defines broadcasting as "transmissions intended for reception by
2337-423: The general public, either direct or relayed". Private or two-way telecommunications transmissions do not qualify under this definition. For example, amateur ("ham") and citizens band (CB) radio operators are not allowed to broadcast. As defined, transmitting and broadcasting are not the same. Transmission of radio and television programs from a radio or television station to home receivers by radio waves
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2394-412: The general public: The world's technological capacity to receive information through one-way broadcast networks more than quadrupled during the two decades from 1986 to 2007, from 432 exabytes of (optimally compressed) information, to 1.9 zettabytes . This is the information equivalent of 55 newspapers per person per day in 1986, and 175 newspapers per person per day by 2007. In a broadcast system,
2451-442: The individual stations on April 16, 2009. Many stations were sold to broadcast companies such as Daystar Television Network . In the company's annual report for 2007, released on April 2, 2008, Equity said that the company was in default on its credit lines, and that if it could not find additional financing it "will need to cease all or a portion of its operations, seek protection under U.S. bankruptcy laws and regulations, engage in
2508-666: The individual stations over the air. Most commonly, Equity stations were low-power television affiliates of Univision , Fox , The WB / UPN or carried music videos and classic television reruns. In late 2005, Equity launched the Retro Television Network (RTN for short), a programming service with a lineup of "classic" shows from the 1950s through the 1980s which currently airs in part or full in numerous markets (controversially replacing UPN in one). Equity sold RTN to Luken Communications in June 2008. Equity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 8, 2008 and auctioned
2565-448: The instantaneous signal voltage varies continuously with the pressure of the sound waves . In contrast, a digital signal represents the original time-varying quantity as a sampled sequence of quantized values which imposes some bandwidth and dynamic range constraints on the representation. In general usage, broadcasting most frequently refers to the transmission of information and entertainment programming from various sources to
2622-405: The message. They can choose to listen, analyze, or ignore it. Dissemination in communication is widely used in the world of broadcasting. Broadcasting focuses on getting a message out and it is up to the general public to do what they wish with it. Peters also states that broadcasting is used to address an open-ended destination. There are many forms of broadcasting, but they all aim to distribute
2679-423: The recipient, especially with multicasting allowing the signal and bandwidth to be shared. The term broadcast network is often used to distinguish networks that broadcast over-the-air television signals that can be received using a tuner inside a television set with a television antenna from so-called networks that are broadcast only via cable television ( cablecast ) or satellite television that uses
2736-410: The spread of vacuum tube radio transmitters and receivers . Before this, most implementations of electronic communication (early radio , telephone , and telegraph ) were one-to-one , with the message intended for a single recipient. The term broadcasting evolved from its use as the agricultural method of sowing seeds in a field by casting them broadly about. It was later adopted for describing
2793-491: The start of transition) had (with rare exception) been required to operate existing digital simulcasts on another channel for several years, so their digital equipment was therefore already in place long before the 2008 recession and the 2009 analog TV shutdown. Several Ion Television stations which signed on when digital licenses began to be issued in the early 2000s did the reverse of Equity, declining to build out redundant and costly analog facilities which would only be used for
2850-503: The transmitter to a new location. The transmitter was moved to a different location, the call sign was changed from KWBF-FM to KZTS, and the format was changed from rhythmic oldies , to adult album alternative , and later a mainstream urban format. With the exception of the station being the Little Rock affiliate for The Rickey Smiley Morning Show , the station had no on-air personalities. Under its previous format, KZTS' main competitor
2907-452: The widespread distribution of information by printed materials or by telegraph. Examples applying it to "one-to-many" radio transmissions of an individual station to multiple listeners appeared as early as 1898. Over-the-air broadcasting is usually associated with radio and television , though more recently, both radio and television transmissions have begun to be distributed by cable ( cable television ). The receiving parties may include
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#17328517504142964-533: The world's first radio message to cross the Atlantic from North America. In 1904, a commercial service was established to transmit nightly news summaries to subscribing ships, which incorporated them into their onboard newspapers. World War I accelerated the development of radio for military communications . After the war, commercial radio AM broadcasting began in the 1920s and became an important mass medium for entertainment and news. World War II again accelerated
3021-450: Was dropped for special occasions, as in the case of the German dirigible airship Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst, New Jersey , in 1937. During World War II , prerecorded broadcasts from war correspondents were allowed on U.S. radio. In addition, American radio programs were recorded for playback by Armed Forces Radio radio stations around the world. A disadvantage of recording first
3078-495: Was initiated in the 1960s and moved into general industry usage in the 1970s, with DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellites) emerging in the 1980s. Originally, all broadcasting was composed of analog signals using analog transmission techniques but in the 2000s, broadcasters switched to digital signals using digital transmission . An analog signal is any continuous signal representing some other quantity, i.e., analogous to another quantity. For example, in an analog audio signal ,
3135-461: Was longtime heritage urban contemporary outlet KIPR . On March 13, 2018, it was announced by media sources that Flinn Broadcasting Corporation would sell Urban KZTS to Salem Communications for $ 1.1 million plus a time brokerage agreement before closing. On April 2, 2018, Salem switched the station's format and branding to their Conservative Talk "The Answer", and changed the station's call sign to KDXE on April 8, 2018. Salem's acquisition of
3192-555: Was not answerable in any way to Equity's board. On April 10, 2009, Equity announced an auction of all its stations, held on April 16 in Dallas . About 60 stations (counting repeater transmitters) were sold (subject to FCC approval) at a total of $ 21.3 million. Equity Media had been paid to provide centralcasting services for RTN after that network was sold to Luken Communications for $ 25 million in June 2008. Equity had held an option to re-purchase RTN from Luken; that option expired unexercised on December 24, 2008. On January 4, 2009,
3249-643: Was their usage of a centralized group-wide hub (called by Equity the Central Automated Satellite Hub, or C.A.S.H , system) where all production, programming, and master control is handled from a facility adjacent to the company's headquarters. Though such hubbing is done on regional scales for many groups, no other company had done it to the scale and magnitude of Equity and C.A.S.H. Various C.A.S.H. stations were available free-to-air throughout North America on Ku band via Galaxy 18 (123°W) or on C band via Galaxy 3C (95°W). The feeds were in
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