Political Conventions Max Out Wireless Chs.

Two days before the May 27 deadline to request wireless mic spectrum for media coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions, the person responsible for coordinating frequency use at the events says every bit of available spectrum is spoken for, and he must now begin telling some broadcasters and other media outlets to make other plans.

“This has never happened before. We are out of channels. We are in new territory,” says Louis Libin, founder and president of RF consultancy Broadcom, and a 20-year veteran of coordinating frequency use at the political parties’ national conventions.

“There are a few things that are happening that are creating what you could call a perfect storm,” says Libin, who also is Sinclair Broadcast Group’s senior director of new technology.

One factor is the contentious, unsettled presidential primary race between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the Democratic side, and another is the massive rallies and at-times-violent protests at campaign events for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Both have piqued the public’s thirst for news on the races and have media interest in covering the conventions at an all-time high.

That interest also extends beyond the country’s borders, says Libin, with what he describes as “a huge number of international” broadcasters planning to cover this year’s conventions. Many of these same foreign news organizations are requesting  wireless mic channels.

Newspapers too are asking for wireless communications to support reporters on the floors of the Philadelphia and Cleveland venues, and new media press organizations from web destinations such as Yahoo News and Facebook also are requesting wireless mic channels for their coverage, he says.

Setting aside the big broadcast and cable news networks, Libin says he has sent nearly 600 applications for use of spectrum for wireless mics, IFBs, wireless intercom and in-ear monitors, as well as for ENG spectrum to TV broadcasters and other media outlets.

Contributing to the scarcity is the heavily used UHF TV spectrum in Philadelphia and Cleveland, which ultimately limits how many wireless mic channels would otherwise be available under special temporary authority from the FCC.

“We have assigned the absolute maximum number of [wireless mic] channels we can be using in the available [UHF TV] spectrum in both cities,” Libin says.

However, this spectrum crisis isn’t for a lack of effort or RF engineering prowess.  Based on past experience and a strong understanding of the how wireless mics are actually used at the conventions, channels will be packed together more closely than normal, he says.

Ordinarily, wireless mic channels are separated by 300 kHz, but at the conventions only 200 kHz will separate each channel used for newsgathering. “We’re literally butting up against each other, but it seems to work because when you have newsgathering opportunities using wireless mics, statistically they’re not right next to each other,” Libin says.

Employing this packing strategy makes “close to 20” wireless mic channels available per 6 MHz UHF TV channel, Libin says. But that’s still inadequate to satisfy demand.

The shortage will require Libin to recommend other alternatives. For example, an NBC affiliate not receiving a wireless mic channel may be advised to inform its parent network of the situation and perhaps be given permission by NBC to use its assigned channel at certain times, he says.

“We are trying to break the news gently to anybody who will not be allowed [a wireless mic channel],” Libin says. “The news is they should not bring their wireless equipment into the arenas because if they do security could potentially kick them out.”

The size and ferocity of anticipated protests outside the venues will further complicate coordination and the demand for spectrum at the conventions, he says.

The greater the spectacle in the streets, the greater the interest among news organizations in covering it. That means more news crews coming into Philadelphia and Cleveland to cover the protests and more reporters on the convention floor exiting the venues to get to the news, he says.

“Then everybody who is authorized inside wants to take that same equipment outside, and not everything works the same way,” Libin says. “It just becomes much more complicated.”

Libin, along with Howard Fine, VP of broadcast services at Pacific Television Center in Los Angeles, and a small group of other engineers working the conventions are also responsible for coordinating use of ENG microwave channels.

Here the picture for the conventions is a little brighter. One reason is all ENG microwave transmissions will be COFDM, operating at “much lower” powers than their analog predecessors and thus reducing the opportunities for interference, Libin says.

Use of IP newsgathering supported by system vendors that set up their own wireless networks in the unlicensed 5.8 GHz band  also will help relieve congestion, although this is not a panacea because “there is no guarantee the channels will be clean” and free from other unlicensed users, he says.

And the availability of “leftover spectrum” near ordinary ENG channels at 2 GHz, 7 GHz and 13 GHz, such as 2.2 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 6.5 GHz will help, as will other frequency bands made available for ENG under FCC special temporary authority, Libin says.

While this year’s political conventions are unprecedented in terms of demand for spectrum, they may prove tame compared to what is facing Libin and the broadcast industry four years from now.

By then, the TV spectrum repack will be complete, and almost all remaining TV UHF channels will be used for TV channel assignments, with few to no UHF channels available for wireless mics. “People have to realize that where we are [with wireless mic channel availability] is going to change,” he says.

“The repack is the biggest disruption of the broadcast industry ever — right across the board. Of course that includes the main television station, but it also is a huge disruption for all kinds of equipment that we call wireless mics and associated equipment.”

While Libin says he is uncertain exactly what the solution to the shortage will be, he is confident wireless mic, intercom, IFB and in-ear monitor manufacturers are working on the problem, designing and developing “many new flavors of wireless mic devices.

“Some of them will work on Wi-Fi bands. Some will work in the 3.5 GHz band, and some will be at 7 GHz. All of this is under discussion,” he says.

“So there won’t be one clean answer. The answer is there will be a kluge of answers, but it won’t be clean.”

(Editor’s note: Broadcasters lucky enough to get wireless channel assignments to cover this year’s political conventions must first take part in preparatory “RF War Games” to wring out sources of harmful interference. Learn more about that in TVN’s Playout blog here.)

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