'BZ Finally Synchronized TOH Tone w/IBOC Delay!

[Uncle Kaimbridge]

Ever since they acquired IBOC, WBZ-AM’s TOH tone has been about 7 seconds late.
Well, since at least last night, for the first time with IBOC on, the tone has been right on time, at :00:00!
Now, the question is whether the tone has just been advanced to :59:53 (like WTIC-AM, down in Hartford, does) or has somehow been taken out of the delayed IBOC feed—?
If it is the former, that means when IBOC is off for whatever reason, the tone will air at :59:53 (like 'TIC’s does in the same situation)!

 

[reelyreal]

Small detail: The WTIC tone triggers :15 seconds ahead, 7.5 seconds for the HD delay and 7.5 seconds for the profanity delay.

 

[spt87]

It would only air early with IBOC off if the analog delay was also turned off - I would think they could just leave the analog delay in place for a simple fix.

 

[aaronread]

By definition, if their IBOC is on, the main analog programming must also be delayed by approximately 7 or 8 seconds in order to synchronize the analog and digital programming. Without that, it means whenever the audio blends from one to the other, they'll be wildly out of sync as the digital delay is fixed.

So if the tone is at the top of the hour, it probably means the IBOC is off. Or that something's wrong with their delay for the analog side.

But yes, in theory it could mean they've figured out a way to fire the tones "early" and schedule all the programming around it.

 

[KML0224]

The delay on WTIC-AM 1080 is most apparent during Red Sox baseball or New York Giants football. Compare their coverage to 103.7 FM of Westerly/Providence during baseball and 660 AM of New York during football.