2019 Radio Predictions

[TheBigA]

The rumor is that Cox will be announcing a deal with Lou Dickey, who has to move very quickly while he still has dry powder.

Today Lew Dickey asked for an extension to spend his money:

https://radioink.com/2019/01/07/lew-asks-for-more-time/

 

[Kelly A]

And those "do gooder" types? They do it to protect children.

You may not agree with it, but that is also the rationale behind radio edits.

Those same indecency laws are that are supposed to be protecting children doesn't mean those same kids don't hear the unedited versions via streaming Pandora, Spotify, Slacker, SiriusXM in Dad's car, or that AAC or MP3 file on a smartphone or tablet.
It amounts to irrelevant, antiquated regulations that put radio at a disadvantage.

 

[Ai4i]

It amounts to irrelevant, antiquated regulations that put radio at a disadvantage.

We were listening to the ABC national broadcaster Tripple J several years ago and were surprised to hear this unedited.
Ausi and US culture are pretty similar for the most part.

 

[vchimpanzee]

How many bouquets are in Oslo and how many stations?
I suspect that this is only on one network of bouquets.
In the UK, eighteen 1.7 MHz wide blocks are spread across their old system-A VHF TV band.
London, and possibly the entire UK, has four bouquets with twelve stations each for a total of forty-eight stations.

It's spelled "Bucket".

Seriously, what does that mean?

 

[Ai4i]

It's spelled "Bucket".
Seriously, what does that mean?

A bouquet - like a bunch of flowers - is a chunk of bandwidth that is sprayed with a wide signal that can multiplex a bunch of radio services.

 

[vchimpanzee]

A bouquet - like a bunch of flowers - is a chunk of bandwidth that is sprayed with a wide signal that can multiplex a bunch of radio services.

I was hoping someone would get the joke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Keeping_Up_Appearances_characters#Hyacinth_Bucket

 

[boombox4]

People listened because they had no choice. Now they do. So they listen to sources that play the unedited versions, and FM radio loses.

I will tell you that when you go to a concert, the artists don't perform the edited version. Even the 80 year old Charlie Daniels.

They played the unedited versions back then, also. Still, rock radio was popular.

The fans also had the CDs to hear the unedited versions -- I know I did. And Mp3's were out by 1999, and Mp3 players were popular by 2001-2002, and that is the period I am referring to.

I would think that the reason rock FM is receding has more to do with demographic changes, and popularity of rock declining overall, in favor of hip-hop, rap, country, pop, and other music.

 

[TheBigA]

I would think that the reason rock FM is receding has more to do with demographic changes, and popularity of rock declining overall, in favor of hip-hop, rap, country, pop, and other music.

You're ignoring that the music now, especially hip hop, is far more obscene than it was in the 90s. Any one Drake song has more obscenity than the entire genre back then. I hear these songs and every other word is either "s" or "f." A genre has been built around it, and any platform that doesn't have it will be ignored.

But hip hop isn't rock, and I agree that rock is declining because it's boring, and it's not being marketed well.

 

[boombox4]

The powers that be did not want DAB for two reasons
Signal parity and room for more stations; nothing else!

Does Oslo have fifty FM stations?
How many bouquets are in Oslo and how many stations?
I suspect that this is only on one network of bouquets.
In the UK, eighteen 1.7 MHz wide blocks are spread across their old system-A VHF TV band.
London, and possibly the entire UK, has four bouquets with twelve stations each for a total of forty-eight stations.
Of course, unlike HD, non-co-owned DAB stations can purchase differing amounts of bandwidth to suit their individual needs.
Europe's L band includes twenty-three similar blocks across a 40 MHz wide spectrum.
UK & EU.

Sirius and XM are proportioned similarly to each other:
They each have 12.5 MHz divided into six bands of 1.8MHz each plus guard bands.
Each of these 1.8MHz bands contains the entirety of the service; all the channels.
They have about eighty-five music channels of varying quality and the vast majority are in stereo
plus an even greater number of reduced bandwidth information, comedy, and sports channels.
Extra services including GPS, traffic, weather, and other information are also thrown in.
The only reason I mention this is to illustrate how nearly two hundred digital channels can be compressed into under two MHz
and be made to sound good enough for people to pay to listen to, though they sounded better when they had fewer choices.

From what I can gather, Norway's system has around 50 DAB channels available, divided among the National networks, large national commercial stations, and a few local radio channels.

One of the problems with DAB in the U.S. is that the use of the radio spectrum here is different than in other countries where DAB works.

Here 220 MHz, which Norway uses for DAB, is a ham band. The UK uses many of the same frequencies in the 220 MHz range for DAB also. The "L" band, which you mention in your post, is allocated to the Military here. Other DAB frequency ranges used in other parts of the world seem to have already been allocated here for business bands, and other uses (at least from looking over the FCC frequency allocation charts).

Then you have the issue with the vast number of stations per metro here, then you even see in the UK.

In the LA metro alone there are over 100 AM and FM commercial stations. That doesn't include stations in nearby areas, like the Inland Empire. How would that fit into the UK DAB scheme, for example? I don't think even London has 100 FM and AM radio stations. The best number I could find was 62.

I myself wish we had DAB here, as it would be a cool alternative, but I also can see some reasons it didn't go here. One being spectrum. But then, when the FCC wants to allocate spectrum, it seems to have no problem doing so. They allocated plenty of spectrum for cell service in the 1980's.

 

[TheBigA]

But then, when the FCC wants to allocate spectrum, it seems to have no problem doing so. They allocated plenty of spectrum for cell service in the 1980's.

Keep in mind that the FCC is primarily in the spectrum sales business. And the telecom business has lots of money for spectrum. So that's why the FCC has no problem in that area. But allocating spectrum for free over the air radio doesn't serve the FCC's current business model. Which is why they won't allocate spectrum for DAB.

 

[davideduardo]

In the LA metro alone there are over 100 AM and FM commercial stations. That doesn't include stations in nearby areas, like the Inland Empire. How would that fit into the UK DAB scheme, for example? I don't think even London has 100 FM and AM radio stations. The best number I could find was 62.

There are 146 AM, FM, Translator and LPFM stations on the air in LA County. The Inland Empire has 75 on the air. In the DMA, there are a total of over 275 stations.

But, again, the window for a new one-to-many radio service has closed. Consumers will not spend for an ad supported medium that requires new hardware. And the average car is 11 years old, so getting to even 50% penetration would take a decade.

People are not unhappy with the FM delivery system for ad supported radio. There is no consumer demand for a new system. Where DAB has been implemented, it was, first, done before Pandora, Spotify and smartphones and, second, with a huge push by the government and government operated radio.

 

[davideduardo]

It's spelled "Bucket".

Seriously, what does that mean?

"Bouquet" is a precise technical term for a piece of bandwidth capable of being used for multiple data streams or sibdivisions.

From one of hundreds of technical citations that a Google search for "Bouquet" +"bandwidth" produces:

"For β=2, if all channels are to be multicast, the necessary bandwidth will be twice the size of the bouquet, i.e., a capacity demand of 2K unicast channel units."

 

[davideduardo]

You're ignoring that the music now, especially hip hop, is far more obscene than it was in the 90s. Any one Drake song has more obscenity than the entire genre back then. I hear these songs and every other word is either "s" or "f." A genre has been built around it, and any platform that doesn't have it will be ignored.

It's fascinating that the comparable genres in Hispanic music, reggaetón and trap, are also overpopulated with obscenity.

I do a weekly new release service for stations in Latin America, and perhaps 50% of the songs in those genres could not legally be played in most of the countries serviced. Then there are borderline songs, acceptable some places and not in others. Those can be used with a note on "Lyric Alert". That leaves only about 25% that are usable anywhere under current standards of decency that might be applied by regulators.

This is not a uniquely American issue or problem. And since regulators are generally older adults, the standards are subject to interpretations that younger people will not agree with.... thus a preference for streaming and non-broadcast sources.

 

[boombox4]

So, the takeaway could be either a) radio is making itself less and less relevant because by not playing unedited songs it is driving listeners away, or b) artists are losing a medium that reaches 90+% of people because they want to fill their songs with cuss words.

 

[TheBigA]

So, the takeaway could be either a) radio is making itself less and less relevant because by not playing unedited songs it is driving listeners away, or b) artists are losing a medium that reaches 90+% of people because they want to fill their songs with cuss words.

Let's put it this way: Having a federal law preventing radio stations from playing songs with obscene language isn't preventing that music getting to the public. If anything, it likely helps the popularity of those songs and artists. You see that Drake, who is perhaps the most obvious user of obscene language in music, is also among the best sellers and the most streamed. It's creating a very distinct and separate culture within the country of people who surround themselves with that music, and don't care that they're not part of the established mainstream. A further balkanization of this country from within.

http://thesource.com/2018/12/07/dra...e-selling-solo-artist-in-america-of-all-time/