DIGITAL AM?

[TheBigA]

That is correct. MA3 mode (all digital, no hybrid mode) is more robust that MA1 mode (hybrid analog / digital), and can be decoded by existing HD AM receivers.

Unfortunately there are more receivers that can receive satellite radio than can receive HD Radio.

 

[Mrtejano]

Unfortunately there are more receivers that can receive satellite radio than can receive HD Radio.

And there are no small portable HD RADIOs. I been looking for one online and the only one that I can find is the ZUNE HD but being that old of a product I’m skeptical of buying one, especially online.

 

[TheBigA]

I been looking for one online and the only one that I can find is the ZUNE HD but being that old of a product I’m skeptical of buying one, especially online.

I remember the Zune! A short-lived $250 portable radio. It might be a collectors item! Not many were sold.

"On May 6, 2008, Microsoft announced that it had sold just over 2 million Zunes."

There are more HD radios than Zunes.

 

[johndavis]

Look at Houston: how many stations on AM cover the 11 counties in the metro well, day and night?

Day and night? Maybe 4 stations have a usable signal at night across the entire market and even they have some big nulls to contend with.

In general, the market outgrew the patterns of most AM stations long ago. Going digital isn't going to help that.

 

[davideduardo]

And there are no small portable HD RADIOs. I been looking for one online and the only one that I can find is the ZUNE HD but being that old of a product I’m skeptical of buying one, especially online.

The problem is that the early HD chips were power hogs. A portable radio with HD would drain the batteries in less than a day's use.

I understand later generation chips were somewhat improved, but DAC conversion is generally a power hog, as can be seen by the nearly non-existence of battery portable TV sets.

Even if the newer chips are better, the ship has really sailed on portable radios.... nobody is buying them.

 

[Mrtejano]

The problem is that the early HD chips were power hogs. A portable radio with HD would drain the batteries in less than a day's use.

I understand later generation chips were somewhat improved, but DAC conversion is generally a power hog, as can be seen by the nearly non-existence of battery portable TV sets.

Even if the newer chips are better, the ship has really sailed on portable radios.... nobody is buying them.

I saw one made by Insigna for $39.99 but haven’t dealt with that brand. I am not aware of the quality in this radio. I have read reviews but I don’t trust reviews since in my opinion the reviews are done by their own staff. Has anyone felt with this radio? It’s an Insigna saw it at Best Buy.

 

[johndavis]

I saw one made by Insigna for $39.99 but haven’t dealt with that brand. I am not aware of the quality in this radio. I have read reviews but I don’t trust reviews since in my opinion the reviews are done by their own staff. Has anyone felt with this radio? It’s an Insigna saw it at Best Buy.

Insignia is the Best Buy house brand. I have one. It's a nice little radio, but it's FM only. Speakers are a little tinny, but it has a headphone out. I used it a couple of times to feed the radio station to a giant PA system on the beach in Galveston for the sandcastle contest. Otherwise, it's my battery powered portable for storms or the radio on my workbench in the garage.

It's a decent FM radio for $40.

 

[BamaTX]

The all-digital AM system is quite comparable to most internet streams (which are NOT CD quality).

But they can be (and some actually are). Internet radio quality is only constrained by the user's bandwidth. But even lowly DSL can handle better quality streams than all-digital AM.

AM radio is dead. Trying to save it in an era where people are moving to OTT content is futile. Stick a fork in it and move on. Let the niche and brokered formats have it.

 

[ContinuousWave]

This actually makes perfect sense from the standpoint of any AM station whose primary audience is from the translator: You switch the origination point to digital and promote to the existing translator audience that they can hear the station farther out, with the same or better quality, on the digital frequency. Any HD AM radio can receive the all digital signal. The only problem is getting additional people to buy radios. At least it's possible whereas reviving analog AM is not!

The MA3 all digital mode can be decoded by HD radios but......any HD2 cannot except for a rare few..
Analog could be made better with Noise Blankers, etc..but the manufacturers don't want to do it right... DSP in HD radios could be set to decode AM CQUAM analog with NB, thus improving analog reception...but again, they don't want to spend the $ to add a few lines of code

 

[Mediafrog+]

We could get a close-by example of all-digital "AM" in the near future. The owners of WTAW 1620 in B/CS are one of the groups pushing for the MA3 transmission standard.

I think WTAW still has HD, or at least did recently. I have occasionally been able to get a lock on it while near 290 and the Grand Parkway.

WTAW has a translator on 94.5, so listeners displaced by the new standard on 1620 could tune over to that.

 

[davideduardo]

AM radio is dead. Trying to save it in an era where people are moving to OTT content is futile. Stick a fork in it and move on. Let the niche and brokered formats have it.

Don't forget the WNAX syndrome. There are farmers and ranchers out on their tractors or horses all over the plains states, much of the Rocky Mountain West and many Pacific Coast state rural areas that don't and won't have web service. They depend on stations like WNAX that cover entire states and are full of agricultural and rural area news.

There is still just one way to provide local service to those areas, and that is AM radio. There is no FM that can mimic the coverage of WMT or WNAX or KRVN or the many other regional stations. And there is no business reason for big metro area stations to serve rural areas as the revenue potential is not there.

Don't write off the good signal AMs yet. The problem is that a huge percentage of AMs are daytime or have such highly directional or low power signals that they can't compete in any way... give those a translator and allow them to close the AM facility and clean up the band. The FCC's problem is that they can not "revitalized" most AMs as well over half of the existing stations are not capable of being viable unless they move to FM. Trying to keep bad signals on the air is futile.

 

[boombox4]

And there are no small portable HD RADIOs. I been looking for one online and the only one that I can find is the ZUNE HD but being that old of a product I’m skeptical of buying one, especially online.

Sangean HDR-16. Under $100, stereo speakers, mini boombox, gets FM stereo, FM HD, AM, AM HD. I have one. Works well, especially on FM and FM HD.

There are no local AM HD (digital) stations anymore so I don't know how AM digital sounds.

 

[HTX]

And there are no small portable HD RADIOs. I been looking for one online and the only one that I can find is the ZUNE HD but being that old of a product I’m skeptical of buying one, especially online.

I have a Sparc SHD-TX2 and I love it. It can really pick up signals well. But they are really hard to find.

 

[Groove1670]

This is being "tested" outside of Washington, DC, in Fredrick, MD. A station in Ft Wayne, IN, tried it for a while but reverted back to analog.

The real question is whether the market needs a new digital medium that requires, as BigA said already, new equipment. Nearly all of us have a digital device already so why would we need another one? And, more importantly, why would we spend money on one?

The FCC will vote later this month. It will likely pass. The NAB is in favor. Many new & late model transmitters will allow transmission, and many new cars with HD radio. Stations will need to notify listeners of the transisition for 30 days. A second channel will be possible in certain instances (think analog FM translator pairing) Stations will also be able to transmit digital data.

Ibiqiuty is offering the transisition at no charge (at least for now).

This is a last ditch effort to save AM. Too little too late? The station in the midwest did the transisition, but went back to analog because listners thought they went off the air (technically they did) or they we having transmission issues.

To ask the masses to adopt a new platform could be an uphill battle. The industry will need to agressively educate the public (that hasn't happened in the past). CES is no longer on board (they didn't support radio on smartphones or HD (FM) radio).

If you are small market radio operator making 10-20k a month (family owned, small staff) and the station is paid in full are you willing to shut down and lose that revenue stream.

 

[TheBigA]

The industry will need to agressively educate the public (that hasn't happened in the past). CES is no longer on board (they didn't support radio on smartphones or HD (FM) radio).

CES was never on board. That was the problem. You go to CES and there are no exciting new radios that mainstream consumers would want to buy. There is nothing along the lines of a Walkman or a boombox. All you see are table radios that have the sex appeal of wet toast.

 

[DTMedia]

I agree 100% about CES....

 

[Groove1670]

CES was never on board. That was the problem. You go to CES and there are no exciting new radios that mainstream consumers would want to buy. There is nothing along the lines of a Walkman or a boombox. All you see are table radios that have the sex appeal of wet toast.

Correct. CES has never been on board.

 

[johndavis]

If you are small market radio operator making 10-20k a month (family owned, small staff) and the station is paid in full are you willing to shut down and lose that revenue stream.

If I am a small market operator and allowed to run programming on analog FM translator and digital AM (even if it can't support a second side channel), I might consider it because of the translator.

Of course, I'm also of the opinion that if the way to revitalize AM is to put in 250 watt FM translators, the FCC should instead of mandating keeping the AM on the air that the AM should be shut down in favor of the FM translator. If I have an AM on 1340 or 1230, the best thing I could do to my neighboring stations is hit Plate Off.

 

[BamaTX]

Don't forget the WNAX syndrome. There are farmers and ranchers out on their tractors or horses all over the plains states, much of the Rocky Mountain West and many Pacific Coast state rural areas that don't and won't have web service. They depend on stations like WNAX that cover entire states and are full of agricultural and rural area news.

The needs of rural America are not going to save AM radio. Especially if the plan is to go all-digital. If these people are already in the edge of service and they only listen because there are no alternatives, then what is the incentive to go HD? Why spend money in HD and force listeners to buy new receivers? All you will do is thin out an already thin herd.

Wireless providers like Verizon claim to cover 98% of the American population and T-Mobile has promised to cover 99% of the population with 5G down the road. Now I get that you won't be able to cover every corner of the country with Cellular service of FM radio, but there is very little money to be made by making sure a hunting cabin in Montana can get AM radio.

Don't write off the good signal AMs yet. The problem is that a huge percentage of AMs are daytime or have such highly directional or low power signals that they can't compete in any way... give those a translator and allow them to close the AM facility and clean up the band. The FCC's problem is that they can not "revitalized" most AMs as well over half of the existing stations are not capable of being viable unless they move to FM. Trying to keep bad signals on the air is futile.

No one is going to take the time, effort, and money to invest in AM radio just to make sure the entire continental US is covered. There's a reason why Mexico gave up on it and only has a few rural and urban AMs left.

It's time to stick a fork in it. Broadcasters need to continue squeezing as much money as they can out of AM radio and then let the non-profit and niche broadcasters finish off the carcass.

 

[davideduardo]

The needs of rural America are not going to save AM radio. Especially if the plan is to go all-digital. If these people are already in the edge of service and they only listen because there are no alternatives, then what is the incentive to go HD? Why spend money in HD and force listeners to buy new receivers? All you will do is thin out an already thin herd.

But those AMs will continue as long as there is agricultural revenue. That can sustain them for quite a few more years.

And there is no plan whatsoever to force stations to adopt pure digital AM. Just a proposal to allow stations that want to do that to make it happen. I don't think that there will be much interest at all because there will be so few receivers.

Wireless providers like Verizon claim to cover 98% of the American population and T-Mobile has promised to cover 99% of the population with 5G down the road. Now I get that you won't be able to cover every corner of the country with Cellular service of FM radio, but there is very little money to be made by making sure a hunting cabin in Montana can get AM radio.

But they are talking about populated areas; there are many agricultural and ranching areas that have low population and make up those 6 to 8 million Americans that will be in the "other 2%". And, knowing the intrinsic honesty of cell phone providers, two percent means about three or four times that... and the time span may be half a decade or more.

No one is going to take the time, effort, and money to invest in AM radio just to make sure the entire continental US is covered. There's a reason why Mexico gave up on it and only has a few rural and urban AMs left.

But in farming and ranching and timber areas, AM stations will simply continue to operate while in populated areas some will sign off, while others will take very niche positions; Canada is a good model for this.

Of course, daytimers should never have been authorized and Class IV's never granted in any market over 250,000 persons. Those creations were part of the FCC's mistaken effort to allow many voices to restrict the radio networks but it ended up crippling radio in the long run.

It's time to stick a fork in it. Broadcasters need to continue squeezing as much money as they can out of AM radio and then let the non-profit and niche broadcasters finish off the carcass.

There will be very profitable niche positions; some existing AM owners will discover such opportunities and create products that can be used in multiple markets. In fact, I think that iHeart's new Black news network will be a combo of mediocre AM stations and streaming to achieve a marketable national presence in areas with higher Black populations.