Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

FCC Denies Wireless-Microphone Makers' Plea for Vacant Spectrum Availability

20/05/2022

FCC Denies Wireless-Microphone Makers' Plea for Vacant Spectrum Availability The action also spotlights new WMAS spectrum-efficient wireless technology By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Friday, May 20, 2022 - 7:10 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

In an Order on Reconsideration issued on May 11, the Federal Communications Commission denied a request from microphone-systems manufacturers Sennheiser and Shure to sustain a vacant channel in the TV bands reserved for wireless-microphone use. That channel was part of the FCC's landmark 2015 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking intended to outline the post-auction landscape for wireless microphones.

In issuing the 2015 Notice, the FCC acknowledged that there would be fewer unused television channels in the TV bands post auction and after spectrum repacking, but it expected that at least one channel in the UHF band would be available for shared use by unlicensed white-space devices or wireless microphones. The matter engendered a lengthy legal and technical back-and-forth. In the ensuing debate, broadcasters argued against the idea, contending that the FCC's 2015 proposal would limit future expansion and innovation potential for full-power TV stations. Broadcasters also said the proposal would require novel engineering studies that would be expensive and time-consuming, particularly for smaller broadcasters.

In responding to the most recent ruling, wireless-microphone users and those who make that equipment contended that the provisions for those wireless devices were necessary, expressing strong support for the important functions performed by wireless microphones and support for the designation of one UHF channel for wireless-microphone use, as per the Order On Reconsideration. Issues are identified regarding the adequacy of higher-frequency alternatives to a vacant UHF channel, as well as the past costs imposed on wireless-microphone users when spectrum availability was moved.

The National Association of Broadcasters, on the other hand, had argued that the preservation of at least one vacant channel on a nationwide basis is no longer achievable and that it was entirely appropriate to close this proceeding in light of the burdens to broadcasters.

Both Shure and Sennheiser filed replies to NAB's opposition, with Shure suggesting that a vacant channel for wireless microphones be preserved in every market where at least two vacant channels are available. Sennheiser also filed an ex parte disagreeing with the commission's assertion in the Termination Order that there is currently no vacant 6-MHz channel in multiple major metropolitan areas and including information purporting to identify a vacant channel suitable for wireless microphones used in nearly every top-50 market.

Ultimately, the FCC determined, We find that adoption of the rules proposed in the 2015 NPRM would not strike the most reasonable balance that would best serve the public interest. We make this determination in light of other actions taken by the Commission since the 2015 NPRM that will support wireless-microphone users and the burdens that the proposal would impose on broadcasters. Because we agree that the totality of these circumstances support the findings in the Termination Order, we reject the Petitioners' claim that the Commission's action was arbitrary and capricious.

However, the commission added, Although we have concluded that we should not proceed with the proposals in this docket, the Commission is committed to supporting white-space devices and wireless microphones and has pursued, and continues to pursue, avenues to ensure adequate spectrum availability for the important services they provide.

In fact, as part of its statement, the FCC said it has continued to pursue paths to support access to spectrum by wireless-microphone users, citing a 2021 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the operation of Part 74 low-power auxiliary station (LPAS) devices to permit a recently developed type of wireless-microphone system, referred to as a Wireless Multi-Channel Audio System (WMAS), to operate in the TV bands and other LPAS frequency bands on a licensed basis. The emerging technology, already permitted in Europe under the applicable European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards, would enable more wireless microphones to operate in the spectrum available for wireless-microphone operations, and thus advances an important Commission goal of promoting efficient spectrum use.

The technology, which would enable more microphones per megahertz of spectrum, is currently under consideration by the FCC. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, issued in April 2021, sought public comment on allowing WMAS on a licensed basis in frequency bands where wireless microphones already are authorized, including the TV bands, the 600 MHz duplex gap, and in portions of the 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz, and 7 GHz bands.

By digitally combining multiple signals, WMAS - promoted by Sennheiser, Shure, and other manufacturers - allows microphones to operate using wider-bandwidth channels than currently allowed. It will be a game-changer, says Joe Ciaudelli, director, spectrum and innovation, Sennheiser. [It] offers an easier and more flexible workflow and provides greater protection to other services that share the same frequency band. We applaud that the commission seems to be entertaining our Petition for Rulemaking to authorize WMAS, but it's only part of the equation in addressing the needs of content-creation professionals. [As with] any wireless device, access to suitable spectrum is required. Sennheiser will continue to work with the commission on developing long-term solutions.

Additionally, the commission recently upheld slightly modified requirements intended to protect licensed wireless-microphone users from interference
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/05/20/fcc-denies-wireless-microphone-...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

03/06/2026

SES Launches Multi-Orbit Satellite Inflight Connectivity on Viva Airlines

SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...

03/06/2026

CFP, ESPN, and TNT Sports Announce 2026-27 College Football Playoff Broadcast Schedule

The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...

03/06/2026

RED Digital Cinema to Host Panels and Demos at Cine Gear Expo 2026

RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations. P...

03/06/2026

Roku Launches Soccer Zone for FIFA World Cup 2026

Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...

03/06/2026

Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies Renew Multi-Year Partnership

Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...

03/06/2026

Sky News Australia Deploys Grass Valley AMPP for Cloud-Based Newsroom Production

Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...

03/06/2026

Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks

The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...

03/06/2026

Clear-Com Deploys Arcadia Central Station and FreeSpeak II at Itaka Arena in Poland

Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...

03/06/2026

Scott Coker Announces Six Executive Hires for New MMA Promotion

Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...

03/06/2026

Telemundo Announces Digital and Social Media Plans for FIFA World Cup 2026

Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...

03/06/2026

Bundesliga Launches AI Assistant 'Captain' in Official App, Developed With AWS

The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...

03/06/2026

Anthony James Partners Serving as Technology Consultant for UNC Kenan Stadium Modernization

Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...

03/06/2026

Audio-Technica Presents 2025-26 Samurai and Presidents Awards

Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...

03/06/2026

iodyne to Demo Multi-Cam Ingest and Color Workflows With RED and Adobe at Cine Gear Expo 2026

iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...

03/06/2026

Women's College World Series 2026: ESPN Brings Out Cinematic Cameras, POVORA CapCams for All-Texas Championship

The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...

03/06/2026

How Comcast Xfinity Made RealTime 4K, Multiview a Reality for World Cup Fans with Vito Forlenza

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...

03/06/2026

Sonys New PTZ Cameras Deliver 4K 60p; New STARVIS Sensor Meets Low-Light Demands

Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...

03/06/2026

NBA Finals 2026: ESPN's 1080p HDR Experience Drives San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks Title Series

Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...

03/06/2026

New Sponsor Spotlight: Caretta Researchs Evangelos Vrysellas Says Booming Sports-Rights Market May Be Hitting the Brakes

According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...

03/06/2026

Film Festival Watch: Catch These 11 Must-See Sundance Institute-Supported Films at Tribeca 2026

Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca. By Jessica Herndon This year, the Tribeca...

03/06/2026

Beat Panner from Sound Particles

Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...

03/06/2026

Eventide to launch the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2

Now features full H90 algorithm library Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...

03/06/2026

Aim Audio's Essence price drop

Significant discount available until 1 October 2026 Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...

03/06/2026

Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism

Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism 3 June, 2026 Media releases Statement by Mandi Wicks, SBS Director of News and Current Aff...

03/06/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Airport

Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Ai...

03/06/2026

Clear-Com Powers Itaka Arena with Arcadia Central Station and FreeSpeak II beltpacks

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

03/06/2026

Comcast Xfinity to Deliver 4K Coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Sony to Show New PTZ Cameras at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Oklahoma City Thunder Tops Nielsen Ranking of Most Viewed NBA Teams

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

SmallHD Introduces OLED 16 4K Production Monitor

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

ANDREW WILSON DELIVERS AUTHENTIC SOUND FOR FILM USING NU...

For more than three decades, Re-recording Mixer Andrew Wilson, AMPS, CAS, has helped bring the natural world to the screen with exceptional audio enjoyed by mil...

03/06/2026

From Stadiums to Campuses to Corporate Studios- Telestrea...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will showcase its latest innovations for modern AV production environments at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N...

03/06/2026

DPA ADVANCES INTEGRATED AUDIO SOLUTIONS FOR PRO AV ENVIR...

DPA Microphones will present a comprehensive portfolio of integrated audio solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of today's professional AV environm...

03/06/2026

Lightware Expands Gemini GVN With Full-Featured USB-C

Lightware announces the GVN-HC-TX220AP, a new transmitter in the Gemini GVN 1G AV-over-IP family that introduces full-featured USB-C for professional 1Gb AV-ove...

03/06/2026

Minno Teams with Evergent to Enhance Faith-Based Streamin...

Evergent, the customer management and monetization leader for streaming and digital subscription businesses, and Minno, the global leader in faith-based content...

03/06/2026

Alfalite brings its LED technology to RTVE iconic Teatro...

Alfalite, Europe's only LED display manufacturer, has completed a new broadcast installation with the deployment of two UHD Finepix 1.5 MATIX AlfaCOB LED di...

03/06/2026

Broadcast Solutions delivers new Ultra HD outside broadca...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is completing a contract to build eight...

03/06/2026

NAB Launches Merkhet Solutions to Advance Deployment of BPS

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

FCC Kicks Off First Spectrum Auction in Four Years

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Utopai Studios Launches Pai 2.0, Cinematic Storytelling AI System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Roku Introduces NHL Zone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Study: Record Revenue Expected for FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Frequency Launches In-Scene Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Creamsource Introduces Vortex2 and Vortex2 Soft

Creamsource, known for its tried-and-true Vortex Series of cinematic lighting, has announced the Vortex2 (V2) and Vortex2 Soft (V2S), two compact additions to t...

03/06/2026

Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC this July

Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC thi...

03/06/2026

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette Jessie Electa Petrov June 2, 2026 0 Comments The 2026 release helps artists tackle complex ...

03/06/2026

La Tl's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design

La T l 's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 2, 2026 0 Comments Blackmagic Videohub 120 120 12G provi...