Boston AM IBOC AIRCHECK

[LinoNYC]

And sorry, Lino, my numbers are neither a guess nor an estimate.

No they are simply incorrect. WSM is part of the whole OpryLand-Ryman historic(tourist) complex, it's an antique and I hope it survives far into the future.

But thanks for making my next argument for me

-You seem fond of this comeback line.

that would be the looming complete (as opposed to today's ALMOST-complete) irrelevancy of IBOC. Within a time horizon predicted variously at one to two years, a consumer electronic device for which there is an obvious and demonstrated demand - streaming radio via internet (WiMax et al) - should be, if you'll pardon the expression, "Ubiquitous." (An early version of the wireless internet radio is in the current Hammacher Schlemmer catalog at a price point not far from current HD radios, a harbinger of a consumer device that will have real - not hyped or faked - appeal.)

You sound just like the HD supporters who claim that their system "will save the band(s)" Sure I can now go to a few areas of Central Park or Bryant Park etc, with my laptop and tune-in. once I'am out of range it's gone, it will be years, if ever, that a huge city like this get universal WIFI -and it probably won't be free. A friend visiting from Thailand is listening to a station from home, I enjoy that music aswell.
There are thousands of streaming stations already. I'd bet that it will be local radio that benefits most from wifi.

The conversion to broadcast digital (iboc or whatever comes next) will take years, but it has the advantage of being tied to a known comoddity (radio) and being compatible with a huge installed base of analog receivers.

Without the preposterous expense of converting aging, complex transmitting facilities to HD.

Then I wouldn't pour anymore money into your own station. Your own operation will probably be sold to a religion operator in the next five years. Hope you get a good price.

Reality: Upwards of 650 million radios in United States, up to 70 million sold each year. Those "aging, complex" facilities will be around awhile.

You keep painting yourself into a corner with dumb, self-contradicting statements

And: without a lot of shrill and boorish public disparagement of quality broadcasters....

That would be you, right?

Lino

 

[hipporadio]

Savage said: "Making fun of Leonard Kahn... If this is what it's come to: now I KNOW the IBOC-AM crowd can't defend their beloved system any more."

And DavidEduardo replied: "Making fun of Kahn is a way of hiding frustration over how he single-handedly doomed AM. About half of AM's audience went to FM while he spun the crank on the legal gears..."

Oh my goodness sakes! Are you really that misinformed, David?... It is quite clear to me that you know very little about Leonard Kahn or his achievements and skills. The "pro" AM HD folks have been using him as a scapegoat for so long... making him out to be AM's anti-christ is JUST a bit TOO much.

Rewriting history conjuring Leonard Kahn as the demon/scapegoat for loss of AM listenership did not and will not solve AM's problems. He was just defending his invention/patent/innovation (AM stereo).

For goodness-sake, David... Will you just put a Zip-Lock over it! Don’t you IBOC shills realize that you’re impudent distractions are making Mr. Savage into even-more of a folk hero; not-to-mention—a really-nice and CREDABLE guy worthy of our support and defense. He has parsed YOU and your ilk PERFECTLY in his characterization of your UNPROFESSIONAL personal attacks against all and any who impede the view within your corporate radio FantasyLand! Leonard Kahn IS NOT “the enemy” within this issue; and he is about as capable of AM band-destruction as my lovable ‘n loyal Chocolate Lab is of brain surgery! I’ve had this “debate” with you ad-nauseam – and I’m not going there [futilely] again!

Mr. Savage has blown-the-whistle on your assorted Caribbean radio adventures; and Hippo-here has you figured also: “AM Stereo a-la 70s San Juan... C-QUAM in every casa, if it just wasn’t for that mean-‘ole Leonard Kahn!” Meanwhile, back in the middle of America...

I owned TWO AM stations not long after that era... YOU DIDN’T! “OWNING and operating” is very-different than “operating” [allegedly] – using another’s capital investment to prepare for your-own resume comparison later in your “career”!

AM station #1 was a 250-watt mid-band day-timer relegated to the nostalgic crooners supplied by TranStar’s “AM Only” format, and was never a candidate for bi-polar modulation. AM station #2 was a different matter – with a 7.7-share live ‘n local Classic Hits format; mid-band at 1kw-D/185w-N ND into a HALF-WAVE wide-band folded uni-pole on a flood-plain; in a market with 4 AMs and 5 FMs - #2 AM and bettered TWO of the FMs locally. It was stereo-capable right up-to the Harris rig, and I was excited [yet prudently-cautious] about the AM-Stereo proposition. The “big-gun” 5kw AM in the market was ready also [we sort-of agreed to do it in tandem]. At home, my new Carver TX-11b WIDEBAND NRSC-compliant C-QUAM-equipped tuner awaited, but I realized that VERY-FEW would shell-out $500 just to enjoy our station in stereo. As I have accurately pointed out before: AM receiver quality took a nose-dive after 1970, and hit an all-time low just as AM Stereo made its appearance – what an unfortunate paradigm – stereo or not! Are you going to blame the priorities of Panasonic, Pioneer, and Sony on Leonard Kahn also, David?

We waited – and waited – for any reasonably-priced, decent-performing, mass-marketed C-QUAM-capable radio that transcended the narrow utility of a WalkMan and bettered the tiny-tinny Sony portable... A STEREO GE SuperRadio would have been a dream-come-true! Two events occurred in the meantime: A local AM bottom-feeder with a wretched plant, a 1957 Gates transmitter [that knew very-little maintenance], and an audio signature that was ghastly; managed to finagle a C-QUAM exciter and establish the AM Stereo example-turned-JOKE in our local market: two channels of crap disguised as “The Star Station”. The final straw was our hands-on evaluation of the $30 component AM-Stereo tuner from Radio Shack. The product was welcome; but its sensitivity was poor – its bandwidth was little-better than “typical” – and its low-end was castrated due to a poorly-designed 25Hz pilot filter. Plans at the two best AM stations for stereo, literally-turned on the disappointment in that R.S. radio... But I guess you’ll fear-not the outrageous – and blame THAT on Leonard Kahn also :

 

[JohnnyElectron]

If I'm not mistaken, the Visteon HD Ford radio will receive CQuam AM stereo as well as HD?

Also, the HD component tuner also receives CQuam (but at perhaps a lower bandwidth)?

Don't forget about the fantastic FANFARE tuner for AM stereo (check out the samples): http://www.fanfarefm.com/soundbites.html

 

[davideduardo]

For goodness-sake, David... Will you just put a Zip-Lock over it!

No, I won't. I have an opinion just as you do. Per the terms of service, as long as I am not offensive, I can express it. And you can express yours, but I don't have to agree with it.

Don’t you IBOC shills realize that you’re impudent distractions are making Mr. Savage into even-more of a folk hero;

Oh, how silly. I am not an HD "shill" (aside from the implied dishonesty that said term carries) but I am a proponent of the technology. I think it expands FM immensely with additional channels, digital audio, reduced multipath, and possibilities of services like traffic texting, etc. And it sure makes AM sound a lot better... but it may be too late to save AM.

not-to-mention—a really-nice and CREDABLE guy worthy of our support and defense.

Someone in a high latitude where sunrise is late and sunset early for much of the year who first has a daytime AM and then a daytime AM with a crippled night operation that should never have been authorized is not someone I think has much sense. It's like opening a dunebuggy dealship in Inuvik.

Of course, with the only broadly viable AM format, news / talk, is moving to FM where its demos improve pretty much overnight, so any AM today is a risky proposition, with or without HD.

Leonard Kahn IS NOT “the enemy” within this issue; and he is about as capable of AM band-destruction as my lovable ‘n loyal Chocolate Lab is of brain surgery!

The fact I could not go AM stereo in '78 or '79 has, in my mind, no other reason than Kahn's legal maeuvers which held up the system until it was too late.

Mr. Savage has blown-the-whistle on your assorted Caribbean radio adventures;

"Adventures?" I was GM or group manager for stations in PR from 1970 through 1992; and sales and programming consultant for the #1 station therre through 2005. That is hardly an adventure. I managed or consulted the #1 station there for about 30 of the last 37 years. Oh, by the way, that is market 13 in the US, as big as Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix or San Diego.

Hippo-here has you figured also: “AM Stereo a-la 70s San Juan... C-QUAM in every casa, if it just wasn’t for that mean-‘ole Leonard Kahn!” Meanwhile, back in the middle of America...

Oh, should I have said "US market #13?" You don't get that it is San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA? That the call letters start with "W" and are authorized in Washington, DC, USA?

I owned TWO AM stations not long after that era... YOU DIDN’T! “OWNING and operating” is very-different than “operating” [allegedly] – using another’s capital investment to prepare for your-own resume comparison later in your “career”!

I owned 12 stations by the time I was 24, in markets of 1.5 million, 900,000, and several smaller ones. Been there, done that and have the t-shirts, coffe mugs and bruises.

We waited – and waited – for any reasonably-priced, decent-performing, mass-marketed C-QUAM-capable radio that transcended the narrow utility....

They never came because the consumer electronics companies realized two things... it was an AM only system, way too late to be of consumer interest... and radio, because of that, did not support it vigorously. And, yep, that mortal delay was of Leonard Kahn's cause, no two ways about it. Today, we have the largest consumer electronics company, Samsung, introducing a 9mm low power chip in Q1 of next year, and many manufacturers ready to use it in 4th generation HD radios. Based on my 3rd generation car radio, I think these will really be good receivers, unlike the first generations.

 

[clouseau]

Oh, how silly. I am not an HD "shill" (aside from the implied dishonesty that said term carries) but I am a proponent of the technology.

David, I think you have missed the point. According to some, since you do NOT agree with the "Destructive, defective, problematic, jamming, six channels wide, buzz saw" view then you ARE a shill.

Just "Zip it up" and "Buzz off", you cheerleading shill!

Clouseau

 

[wgliradio]

We're working with WSM's top management on the IBOC interference issue, and I can tell you - shocker of shockers - David "Eduardo" Gleason is wrong. Again. And sorry, Lino, my numbers are neither a guess nor an estimate.

David is radio's Bill Belichick. He knows everything. Don't you know??? Why, I expect him with a video camera outside my station(s) any day now.

 

[wgliradio]

Then the WSM folks are lying in their MK report, which means they have no respect for the integrity of the radio industry.

My is the kettle black...

 

[wgliradio]

And as happens so frequently with the IBOC-AM crowd: the more powerful and persuasive an argument is made which they don't happen to like, the more they respond with name-calling, ad hominem attacks, denigration of someone else's station(s), sweeping and unsupportable statements, and the lowest of the low:

Making fun of Leonard Kahn.

He does a good job of that himself... I didn't think he needed help here.

 

[wgliradio]

Rewriting history conjuring Leonard Kahn as the demon/scapegoat for loss of AM listenership did not and will not solve AM's problems. He was just defending his invention/patent/innovation (AM stereo). I expect any innovator would do the same.

I agree. Same as the people who back the AM HD system even though it doesn't work right.

 

[wgliradio]

Yeah, I have a little broadcast experience.

I had signed orders for the first AM Stereo gear from two of the 5 contenders back in the late 70's for WQII - San Juan. We had a 40% chance of being the first non-experimental AM stereo station in the US. Our entire audio system was rebuilt for stereo and we were ready. The, delayed by the Kahn legal maneuvers, we had to wait about 5 years. By then, AM was dead for music, FM was where music lived. In the year we thought AM stereo might be approved, the FM shares in our market were 14. By 1980, they were over 60. Thanks a lot, Leonard... you kill me!

It had nothing to do with the type of programming on FM or the fidelity. I don't think AM stereo would have made a huge difference. FM would have rewritten the story and you know it.

 

[wgliradio]

Oh, how silly. I am not an HD "shill" (aside from the implied dishonesty that said term carries) but I am a proponent of the technology. I think it expands FM immensely with additional channels, digital audio, reduced multipath, and possibilities of services like traffic texting, etc. And it sure makes AM sound a lot better... but it may be too late to save AM.

There is no may. AM should be left to play out what it can play out in peace. FM? Those operating stations should be thinking about wi-fi... and how to become visable. I don't think there will ever be a true ROI on HD.

Someone in a high latitude where sunrise is late and sunset early for much of the year who first has a daytime AM and then a daytime AM with a crippled night operation that should never have been authorized is not someone I think has much sense. It's like opening a dunebuggy dealship in Inuvik.

That's nice coming from someone who has probably operated many stations with 3 or more towers at 90 electrical degrees. Not everyone gets to live out their dream on a clear channel AM on a 5/8ths stick. And the big boys have done plenty of shoehorning and "never should have beens" of the years (like WADO's defective nighttime 7200 watts to nowhere, or the 50kw's during the day that is buried in noise in middtown and can't even decode into HD if and when it is on). And why isn't it on???

 

[SUPERCASTER]

And as happens so frequently with the IBOC-AM crowd: the more powerful and persuasive an argument is made which they don't happen to like, the more they respond with name-calling, ad hominem attacks, denigration of someone else's station(s), sweeping and unsupportable statements, and the lowest of the low:

Making fun of Leonard Kahn.

Making fun of Kahn is a way of hiding frustration over how he single-handedly doomed AM. About half of AM's audience went to FM while he spun the crank on the legal gears... and FM ended up being the dominant band with only a dim hope of any recovery.

Wow! Leonard sure is powerful. Perhaps you should listen to him or he'll banish you to a prison camp in Siberia.

You seem unreasonably angry with him because you backed another "Johnny come lately" AM stereo system.

Kahn seems to be winning against AM HD, with few broadcasters adopting it especially at night, and virtually no consumer acceptance.

 

[davideduardo]

There is no may. AM should be left to play out what it can play out in peace. FM? Those operating stations should be thinking about wi-fi... and how to become visable. I don't think there will ever be a true ROI on HD

That's WiMAX, not wifi. And there are already some HDs showing signs of commercial life. There should be some profitable ones in the next couple of years.

That's nice coming from someone who has probably operated many stations with 3 or more towers at 90 electrical degrees.

There is nothing wrong with shorter sticks or directionals. In fact, two strategically directional sations are 1-A clears. The frst directional I built was designed to cover up and down a population center, and not to waste power where there was no population. A good example of directional use is KTNQ in LA.... 50 kw from East of the market into 5 half-wave towers. About 200 kw erp over the population center.

It's the class IVs in large cities, the daytimers, the 50 kw day 250 watt night idiocies, the stations that are so directional they miss ost of their market, etc.,, that the FCC should not have allowed if they really wanted to keep the band clean and allow stations to serve their communities.

Not everyone gets to live out their dream on a clear channel AM on a 5/8ths stick. And the big boys have done plenty of shoehorning and "never should have beens" of the years (like WADO's defective nighttime 7200 watts to nowhere, or the 50kw's during the day that is buried in noise in middtown and can't even decode into HD if and when it is on). And why isn't it on???

Funny, WADO gets some of its highest shares at night. And the HD will be back... the exciter went back to the factory to avoide some problems we found in another market that caused considerable difficulty.

 

[Play Freebird]

. And, yep, that mortal delay was of Leonard Kahn's cause, no two ways about it.

Why do you blame Leonard for this delay, when the real culprit was the FCC?

Kahn introduced his AM stereo system in the early '60s -- it was an offshoot of the ISB technology he had developed for military/commercial applications. He petitioned the FCC way back then to allow AM broadcasters to use it, but was turned down (although the Mexican government didn't have a problem.) It was not until the late '70s, after FM had made a heavy impact on AM listenership, that the Commission was willing to consider the AM stereo matter again.

The "marketplace" approach to an AM stereo decision was kept alive through the '80s by Mark Fowler, the FCC chairman appointed by Reagan, who was responsible for much of the deregulation that had a profound impact on this business.

 

[R.F. Burns]

. And, yep, that mortal delay was of Leonard Kahn's cause, no two ways about it.

Why do you blame Leonard for this delay, when the real culprit was the FCC?

Kahn introduced his AM stereo system in the early '60s -- it was an offshoot of the ISB technology he had developed for military/commercial applications. He petitioned the FCC way back then to allow AM broadcasters to use it, but was turned down (although the Mexican government didn't have a problem.) It was not until the late '70s, after FM had made a heavy impact on AM listenership, that the Commission was willing to consider the AM stereo matter again.

The "marketplace" approach to an AM stereo decision was kept alive through the '80s by Mark Fowler, the FCC chairman appointed by Reagan, who was responsible for much of the deregulation that had a profound impact on this business.

The reason for all the blame was not that he had an opposing stereo system. The problems stemmed from the time the commission decalred that C-Quam was the winner and defacto AM stereo system in the United States. What I've heard is that the other manufacturers of AM stereo systems stopped marketing their AM stereo systems as opposed to Mr. Kahn who filed many lawsuits, thus muddying the AM marketplace. What I was toild was that his suits caused confusion in the marketplace and by the time those suits ended, AM stereo was for all intense and purposes a dead issue. I hope this helps explain the thinking behind broadcasters reactions to what is happening now.

 

[Play Freebird]

Regardless, if the FCC had acted on Kahn's original petition, we would have seen AM stereo in the US back in the '60s. I'm sympathetic to his plight because of this bureaucratic bungling.

I still don't quite understand why so many US broadcasters shut off their C-QUAM exciters after the Motorola system was chosen as the defacto standard. They had paid for the equipment and some listeners still had receivers capable of decoding the stereo signal, correct? No ongoing licensing fees, or increased transmitter power bill, right? No interference to other broadcasters, so why the big rush to kill the stereo signal?

This is one reason I don't see a rosy future for iBiquity's system, because unlike AM stereo, there will be higher costs of operation imposed on the licensees, regardless of whether anyone has receivers.

 

[wgliradio]

That's WiMAX, not wifi. And there are already some HDs showing signs of commercial life. There should be some profitable ones in the next couple of years.

Excuse my mistype at 4am. As for ROI for HD AM's.....

There is nothing wrong with shorter sticks or directionals. In fact, two strategically directional sations are 1-A clears. The frst directional I built was designed to cover up and down a population center, and not to waste power where there was no population. A good example of directional use is KTNQ in LA.... 50 kw from East of the market into 5 half-wave towers. About 200 kw erp over the population center.

Not every directional is a waste of time, but generalize Mr. Savge's AM as something that should not have been authorized when the likes of Clear Channel and you (WRTO, WADO, KLOK, KCOR, KRTX, KLAT) that should never have gotten increases or authorizations just add to the noise, just like all the other electrically short, directional and shoehorned AM stations that were added in earnest after WWII.

Funny, WADO gets some of its highest shares at night. And the HD will be back... the exciter went back to the factory to avoide some problems we found in another market that caused considerable difficulty.

The exciter is out 6 months? Cause that's how long its been off. And WADO fits my defective AM.

Any AM is defective if

It's nightime power is not at least 30% of it's daytime power
It uses a second site for nighttime
It needs MORE power at night but is not operating at 50kw
It operates with more than 4 towers day or night.
It is a daytimer.
It had distroyed a Blau Knox diamond antenna for a useless power increase within the last 10 years.

 

[hipporadio]

I have an opinion just as you do. Per the terms of service, as long as I am not offensive, I can express it...

Your absolutely right David; and WHY would I risk MY amusement here by suggesting that you limit YOURS? My inference WAS NOT that you surrender your right to express yourself – ONLY that you dispense with the tenacious [and tiresome] PERSONAL ATTACKS and absurd conjugations that have become all-TOO-common within your pro-IBOC ranks.

What if I were to post the proposition that the Mays and Dickey clans have [in tandem] terminated the “art of good radio” and “doomed terrestrial FM”? I can easily-imagine your incredulous and high-minded response to such an outrageous statement [and YOURS about Mr. Kahn is NO DIFFERENT]! Granted, there are MANY who might make the Mays/Dickey point convincingly, but I would not plaster but a single splice of a few notorious names to that assumption. Fair-enough?

The fact I could not go AM stereo in '78 or '79 has, in my mind, no other reason than Kahn's legal maeuvers which held up the system until it was too late.

With whatever respect I can muster: That’s absurd, David – and you know it! The large-market corporate radio aficionado that you are should realize that you’re a grown-up batch-of-boys capable of your-own high-powered business decisions. No shortage from your fraternity had trouble finding the Motorola, Delta, Harris, or BE phone numbers to spend “pocket change” [by your-own standards] for a C-QUAM exciter and monitor. I can recite DOZENS that did just that and seized the initiative in their markets [large AND SMALL]... I can also think of HUNDREDS that were too-intoxicated on the revival of Top-40 [this time on FM] and the cheap ‘n easy “Light Rock – Less Talk” craze to give AM-stereo more than an obligatory glance and disinterested eye-roll. Are you asking us to believe that YOU were without that fortitude; and further have us accept your contention that it was solely the fault of Leonard Kahn?

I owned TWO AM stations not long after that era... YOU DIDN’T!

I owned 12 stations by the time I was 24, in markets of 1.5 million, 900,000, and several smaller ones...

Again, you’ve chosen to take my point out of context. Follow the bouncing red ball, David. Not long-after the era you mentioned [relevant to AM-stereo], I WAS in the radio industry with licensee-status – YOU obviously were not. IIRC from one of your 10,800+ prior posts—YOU were busy placing the order FOR THE VERY-FIRST Harris-system AM-stereo exciter “as a manager for your group employer”... One, then, can logically-assume that you were NOT “at risk” [personally] from any fallout from the AM-stereo debacle that you are so-inclined to interpret and rewrite the history of.

“12 by 24” - that’s impressive! ...And I had to wait until 31 – there were only four – and the market was nowhere-near 900,000 to 1.5 million... I’m sure you have more coffee mugs than I do

...we have the largest consumer electronics company, Samsung, introducing a 9mm low power chip in Q1 of next year, and many manufacturers ready to use it in 4th generation HD radios...

...And we’re not talking about a highly-anticipated chip for the next Microsoft game console guaranteed to drive sales into the millions—THE FIRST MONTH! This remains a “skeptical introduction” lacking ANY solid innovation beyond its reduced appetite for DC power – destined for an ultra-low sales market with near-zero current interest beyond the corporate broadcasters who stock these radios in their prize closets. A development technician at Intel recently showed me a directory of available chips for the OEM market. It was over two-inches thick [and nearly a THOUSAND were RF and radio-related]... He then told me that less-than FIVE-PERCENT of them enjoy significant sales. They just “hang-around” and increase in price as demand and batch-purchase size-requirement falls. There are even a couple related to Motorola C-QUAM AM-stereo!

“Many manufacturers” ??? So WHO are they, David? ...I’m really in the dark here given my business-access to many CE trade publications.

“FOURTH generation” [already]... For a product that hit the retail shelves at barely-beyond spec-level just 18-months ago – WOW! I’ve heard of “product innovation”, but this sounds more-like a syndrome that affects a defective software program—keep releasing “patches” until it finally works—well, maybe! QUESTION: Does the “fourth generation” spawn the FIFTH “Big Roll-out”?... I can’t wait to see those cute orange iBiquity jumpsuits again ;D

I am not an HD "shill" (aside from the implied dishonesty that said term carries) but I am a proponent of the technology...

I’m sorry, David... So you’re merely a corporate radio apologist... THAT plus “HD shill” equal one-in-the-same! The New World Dictionary defines “shill” as slang for [1]: the confederate of a gambler, pitchman, or auctioneer who buy, bet, or bid so as to lure onlookers into participating; and [2]: a person who works energetically to sell or promote something. ANY inference to “implied dishonesty” is only in the eye of the beholder as in “the smeller’s usually the feller”. I hope The Good Inspector is taking notes... Again, a PERFECTLY-APPROPRIATE label for the movers ‘n shakers of “HD Radio”!

 

[Savage]

Question to ponder:

Why does anyone on this board give a flyin' flippin' dayglo-orange rip about ANYTHING David Edward Gleason has to say about AM or HD-AM?? He's repeatedly expressed nothing but contempt for the service ("I would not want one even if gifted to me," he once bloviated.) Since he thinks AM belongs in File 13, that's where his posts on the subject should land. Do I hear a second?

And The Humble Hombre thinks Leonard Kahn caused legal troubles? Haw! Wait til the IBOC hits the fan!

Not to be pedantic (Eduardo-style) but here's where it's all headed.

Right now the scorecard is 220ish HD-AMs on the air, with about half-ish that on at night. This is not a significant number of AM stations, with even the most optimistic iBiquity-cobbled numbers claiming about 4% of operating AMs using IBOC. So that would be: 96% NOT participating, which means, even using Gleason's figures, WYSL's Eduardo-maligned audience ratings are outperforming iBiquity.

But even this meager showing is misleading as a predictor of future IBOC growth since the preponderant majority of those include most 50kw major market AMs, many of which are nondirectional (and thus easiest to convert to HD-AM) or which have simple DAs, and/or represent the stations owned and operated by groups who invested heavily in iBiquity (including CC and CBS.)

Many other major operators such as Entercom have shown little interest in converting to HD-AM.

The next big step for HD-AM is to ramp up conversions by other stations. The next bunch will be much harder to achieve because they are smaller stations in smaller markets, or secondary stations in major markets, who most likely lack the capital to spend on the costly and problematic HD-AM conversion, particularly those with complex DA systems. As has become painfully aware in the field, poor pattern bandwidth and common-point nonlinearity - typical of most AM directionals in use - severely hamper both analog and digital performance on IBOC-AM. Growth of station conversions? I would opine that most stations likely to convert to HD-AM have already done so.

Then there are the receiver issues and the receiver availability issues. Even the most optimistic posters here have conceded that there have been, and still are, serious problems.

Then there are the looming international implications. Canadian and Mexican stations, and their respective federal regulatory bodies, are not likely to sit passively over the border and allow IBOC nighttime screech wipe out their domestic AM service. Canada, in particular, relies on AM to serve widely-dispersed population in the northern interior of their country. Expect loud protests to the USDOS over NARBA violations.

As the Coasters sang: "And THEN"...the capper would be the increasingly-likely adjacent-channel IBOC interference lawsuits. It will only take a handful to kill HD-AM outright. If there's a class-action on behalf of station operators who have lost coverage and revenue due to IBOC interference, well...let's just say, digital sidebands will be the least of the HD-AM guys' problems.

If legal actions are filed, every sane potential player will slam on the brakes, waiting it out from the safety of the sidelines. No station operator is likely to gamble six figures on installing a system that might get them sued, or which might become a TX-rack dust collector. Receiver manufacturers will refrain potentially pointless development of new products. The creaky, slow, obsolete IBOC train-to-nowhere will grind to a halt.

Hey, don't blame the messenger. iBiquity, the Alliance and the NAB should have come up with an idea that actually works.

 

[Savage]

RE: PREVIOUS POST

Sorry, accidentally hit POST instead of PREVIEW when I wasn't done editing. Please omit the last sentence of 'graph 5, which stated that WYSL's ratings are outperforming iBiquity's IBOC sales, which is not accurate.

Thanks.