I forgot to mention that I was streaming from the My Tuner app.
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Tampa AM Station Buys Transmitter to Go All-Digital
- Thread starter rbc
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Groove1670
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HD radios will need to be affordable and accessable and built in with AM-FM to have any value. Affordable meaning under $39.95. I've asked several Dept. Managers and the said that is the price point of their best sellers. I don't think at this time you could put HD radio in a generic box at that price, or if there is any interest.
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Kevin
Guest
I think you’re absolutely correct in what you’re saying. The interest for HD Radio is now faded away after 15 years of marketing failure, the interest in radio itself is fading, most people have shifted over to streaming. Just the other day, I asked my children and teenaged grandchildren (ages 15-45) if they even listen to the radio anymore, all of them said no. Pandora and Spotify is the what all of them prefer if they aren’t listening to a podcast. In order to keep what listeners and buyers of HD Radio and radio in general that are remaining, the price point is extremely important.
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Indeed, the latest "Share of Ear" study, paid for by Cumulus/Westwood One, found that only 43% audio listening for adults 18+ was spent with AM/FM radio. Yikes.
Edison Research’s “Share Of Ear” Q3 2020: In-Car Audiences Rebound, Brands And Agencies Overestimate Pandora/Spotify Audiences, AM/FM Radio Dominates Ad-Supported Media, And Podcast Audiences Surge - Westwood One
Edison Research recently released the Q3 2020 “Share of Ear” report, the media industry’s go-to for understanding how Americans consume audio each day. Here are the key findings.
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Kevin
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Go with a plan that is not involving a contract. Metro PCS is one of many non-contract services, I have a family plan that is $25. per line and everyone on that plan pays at the time the bill has to be paid. I can’t complain about $25. a month with unlimited data. Bottom line, do your shopping and find a deal.
But in ad-supported media, AM and FM radio has 76% share of voice. A large percentage of non-ad-supported audio usage has always been... depending on the era, records, 8-Tracks, cassettes, CDs and MP3's and now streams that are paid for.
The fact that Cumulus paid for the study is not an influence; Edison Research is one of the most reputable and highly respected companies in the entire world in that field.
Even that has eroded quickly, though: in the same report, they find radio's share among ad-supported media among 25-54 adults has declined 11 points 2016 to 2020.
I don't think comparing the modern digital/wireless era to albums, 8 tracks, etc. is a reasonable comparison. I don't have figures at my fingertips, but many millions of Americans can now get practically any album ever, without ads by asking Alexa for it. When I was a kid, my parents had several boxes of vinyl albums, but if you wanted to listen to a particular album it was difficult to find. Today, there's no friction: "Alexa, play Hound Dog by Elvis".
The reason I brought up Cumulus's involvement was to point out that it wasn't some study that was purposely denigrating broadcast.
The point I was making is that the smart devices are subscription based, one way or the other. You don't get service unless you subscribe. Once you buy a radio, it will work till it falls apart, becomes obsolescent, or more darkly, until your local stations die off.
Smart devices have a relatively short lifespan compared to radios. They become obsolescent because of software bloat or abandoned architectures. In comparison, I have a late 1960s era Sears Silvertone tabletop radio that still works fine for analog broadcast radio. It won't be obsolescent until radio goes all-digital. I'd like to think that the HD radios I've bought over the last few years will have a useful life measured in double digits.
I'm not trying to say I have a problem with innovation. It's pushing us forward and I use smart devices all the time. Radio still has a place in my life as a way to consume audio programming without all the fuss of managing credentials, subscriptions, or the upgrade treadmill for the smart devices.
However, keep in mind that radio is sold based on users, not on the medium per se.
A recent study, widely publicized on radio industry sites in the last weeks, shows that advertisers are finding that streaming and general internet audio services such as podcasts have much less memorability attributed to their spots and OTA radio and this indicates an opportunity for broadcasting to take back a lot of dollars.
This post is about a radio station in Tampa switching to an all digital mode of OTA operation. The first such decision since the ruling by the Trump FCC.
It was not about a debate on online data services.
Each platform deserves a piece of the ear and will eventually act in unison, but, for right now, all of these are still in flux.
If you want to debate the pros and cons of each, I would be willing to do that, but OTA radio is STILL the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to your ear and the station is still not operating at full power, but close.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
It was not about a debate on online data services.
Each platform deserves a piece of the ear and will eventually act in unison, but, for right now, all of these are still in flux.
If you want to debate the pros and cons of each, I would be willing to do that, but OTA radio is STILL the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to your ear and the station is still not operating at full power, but close.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
I am happy to report that the Sangean HDR-16 does in fact decode WMGG’s 1470! The stereo sounds like FM to me; at least on that radio, as I did some comparisons. It was interesting to tune a non-HD radio to 1470 at the same time and there was nothing; just sounded as though there was not a station on 1470; but there is still some slight hash on 1460 and 1480, though it doesn’t seem as bad as I recall the HASH when 620 WSUN/WDAE had IBOC. The problem with anyone going out of their way to test their HD radio is that 1470 still seems to be experimenting and they’re off the air almost as much as they are on the air and when the have a talk program on (English language) the HD is not on.
A Florida AM radio station is now on the air full-time with all-digital transmission, committing its 1470 signal strictly to listeners who have digital receivers.
Neal Ardman told Radio World that WMGG switched on its new Nautel transmitter, purchased for this purpose, on Tuesday morning. The station has an FM translator that continues to serve analog listeners at 101.9. The station airs Spanish musical programming.
[...]
WMGG Has Turned on All-Digital AM (12 Jan 2021)
Neal Ardman told Radio World that WMGG switched on its new Nautel transmitter, purchased for this purpose, on Tuesday morning. The station has an FM translator that continues to serve analog listeners at 101.9. The station airs Spanish musical programming.
[...]
WMGG Has Turned on All-Digital AM (12 Jan 2021)
Interestingly, I have a better signal, in Sa-ra-so-ta!, from WWNN now, a 50kw from Pompano Beach, since the digital was turned on.
It goes away for hash the closer I get to the Skyway. Once there, the 1470 HD pops in.
They aren't quite at the full 2.8kw, yet, but I can see a possibility of a power increase without violating any interference rules.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
Thank you, SomwRadioGuy for confirming my suspicion that an all digital transmission produced less hash! That said, on this past Saturday afternoon, when I had the time to make all these comparison, it seemed that even with the new transmitter, the engineers were doing a lot of fine tuning. The signal varied from strong to weak all within a short time frame and then back to strong; also, the all digital mode gave way several times to just IBOC and the music and talk alternated back and forth as well.
I’m not sure if the display on radios on the AM band are also called RDS or something else; but it was there as well, indicating 1470 HD1! WMGG and below that the name of song and artist scrolling. I never thought I would see that on the AM band! 😀
With respect to RBDS (title & artist), my two car radios display differently.
The Visteon Jump will display FM RBDS with or without HD and up to 4 HDs.
The JVC will only display FM RBDS while the radio is in HD.
I only see one HD for AM, but I haven't mentioned that before since this is still a work in progress and as such, I see different activity on the display, such as one time seeing the WTMP calls for 1150/96.1 on 1470.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
How far does WMGG go at Night on Digital
Can it reach Orlando with a Good Signal?
Can it reach Orlando with a Good Signal?
The HD Radio equivalent to RDS is called program associated data (PAD), which is separate from RDS. One of the stations near me, WXRR, has full song title information on RDS, but their HD shows nothing but the call sign. On the other hand, WWOZ has no RDS but provides the song title info in HD mode.
WWFD tested a HD2 channel, it's not known if the FCC will allow it, especially if stations want to use FM translators to rebroadcast the HD2. Current HD radios aren't able to decode a HD2 on AM, they would have to be updated: NERW Extra: HD2 Arrives on AM Radio | Fybush.com
Digital AM is great for stations that have FM translators, many of which emphasize their FM frequency rather than AM. Regular radios can use the translator, while HD radios can enjoy the larger coverage of the digital AM, as well as better audio.
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