The Future of Wireless Mics Is Full Of Static

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission’s priority is the spectrum auction, and what to do about wireless mics -- which are so critical to the production of news, sports and entertainment for broadcast and online distribution -- simply isn’t important. The latest Notice of Proposed Rulemmaking proposes setting up a single UHF channel in each market, which will be shared by wireless mic users and white space devices. Howard Kaufman, technical representative for wireless mic maker Lectrosonics, sat in on a meeting with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “Sitting with [Chairman] Wheeler himself, he said that Congress tasked us [the FCC] with a bill to recover this spectrum, and sadly for you, meaning [the] wireless mic [community], Congress did not provide any guidance with what to do with wireless mic users,” says Kaufman. “Broadcasters generally don’t know this because they aren’t regularly involved with the FCC,” engineer Louis Libin says. “They don’t realize that this nice world where we have some stability in terms of production and the equipment we use is going to change drastically.”

Wireless mics are entwined with the auction and repack process because they operate on UHF channels that are unused in TV markets. Currently, two 6 MHz channels per market are reserved for use by wireless mics, a term which is shorthand for a variety of wireless TV production gear, including mics, IFB, intercom systems and in-ear monitors worn by musical performers. It’s not unusual for other unused TV channels in a market to be assigned on a temporary basis to handle wireless mic spectrum requirements for big, live sports and entertainment productions where more spectrum is needed. However, repacking TV stations into a much smaller swath of spectrum following the incentive auction means less availability of UHF spectrum for wireless mics.