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HD Authorization Codes

P

Play Freebird

Those of you who subscribe to the Pubtech list may have noticed a GM's urgent plea for help at 10 AM EDT this morning. To paraphrase his message:

"Our HD is off the air. We need authorization codes from iBiquity, but nobody is answering the phones! How do we reach someone in tech support?"

I can sympathize, having done work for clients who are running HD. When I've installed software updates, we've had to call for new "key codes" or else nothing functions. Not something I want to deal with at 2:30 AM. And a new code is required annually, otherwise the system shuts down. Not only is this a PITA, but it raises the question: Who will support the system and provide new codes if iBiquity follows in the "Chapter 7" footsteps of Bennigan's?
 
I noticed WLS AM 890 in Chicago sounding wonderfully crisp, pure and hissless this morning as I listened on the 1 hour drive to work.
The HD is off.

I wonder if it might be they who are enjoying one of the most fascinating errors of modern technology, the auth code paralysis.

If ibiquity is looking for a good way to get stations to drop HD, having a system that suddenly forgets authorization codes is
a good way to do it. Double ditto on the no phone support. Bet it's in a major market, and ibiquity doesn't even have
a service crew assigned to that city.
This is is how ibiquity thinks radio ought to work. It can just go down if you haven't paid your bill.
This shows their disregard for radio as a public service, and says a lot about who they're looking out for.

As soon as the devil is dead, all the zombies will come back to their senses.
There never was much to support, anyway.
 
Yeah, closed circuit for all the IBOC nutjobs who insist over and over and over that iBiquity is just following in the footsteps of NTSC color, FM and FM stereo in rolling out just the latest in a succession of al-but-inevitable technological advances:

Document for us a single example of an FM station which went off the air because its USE license expired without the station renewing it. Or a stereo FM which suddenly reverted to mono, or a TV station that abruptly lost its color...etc.
 
BTW, Freebird, WHEN iBiquity files for banko liquidation, calling for authorization codes to keep the system operating will be mooter than moot. Everybody will have pretty much abandoned the system by then anyway.

Anyone interested in starting a pool?
 
10 A.M.? You mean no one at iBiquity was available to take a service call during normal business hours? What kind of a Michael Mouse operation are they running?

I don't think authorization codes are needed for DRM.

C5
 
Tom Wells said:
I noticed WLS AM 890 in Chicago sounding wonderfully crisp, pure and hissless this morning as I listened on the 1 hour drive to work.
The HD is off.

I wonder if it might be they who are enjoying one of the most fascinating errors of modern technology, the auth code paralysis.

If ibiquity is looking for a good way to get stations to drop HD, having a system that suddenly forgets authorization codes is
a good way to do it. Double ditto on the no phone support. Bet it's in a major market, and ibiquity doesn't even have
a service crew assigned to that city.


WLS's Hd is still off (18:30). Maybe since they recentlly added the AM side to WLS-FM's HD-2 they decided to just turn it off for good.
Click to expand...
 
Play Freebird said:
Those of you who subscribe to the Pubtech list may have noticed a GM's urgent plea for help at 10 AM EDT this morning. To paraphrase his message:

"Our HD is off the air. We need authorization codes from iBiquity, but nobody is answering the phones! How do we reach someone in tech support?"

I can sympathize, having done work for clients who are running HD. When I've installed software updates, we've had to call for new "key codes" or else nothing functions. Not something I want to deal with at 2:30 AM. And a new code is required annually, otherwise the system shuts down. Not only is this a PITA, but it raises the question: Who will support the system and provide new codes if iBiquity follows in the "Chapter 7" footsteps of Bennigan's?
Click to expand...

What was his hurry? To make sure he was serving the 3.7 listeners in his market who actually own the radios?

There's an easy solution for any owner to whom this happens. If iBiquity won't provide the authorization codes, the owner should send them a bill for the pro-rated portion of the license fee representing the amount of time the HD equipment was down. Why should they be paying a license fee for the time they couldn't use the equipment due to a circumstance beyond their control? If this occurs often enough, iBiquity will be drowning in paperwork.
 
vforest76 said:
Tom Wells said:
I noticed WLS AM 890 in Chicago sounding wonderfully crisp, pure and hissless this morning as I listened on the 1 hour drive to work.
The HD is off.

I wonder if it might be they who are enjoying one of the most fascinating errors of modern technology, the auth code paralysis.

If ibiquity is looking for a good way to get stations to drop HD, having a system that suddenly forgets authorization codes is
a good way to do it. Double ditto on the no phone support. Bet it's in a major market, and ibiquity doesn't even have
a service crew assigned to that city.


WLS's Hd is still off (18:30). Maybe since they recentlly added the AM side to WLS-FM's HD-2 they decided to just turn it off for good.
Click to expand...

This just caused a perplexing question to pop into my head. I am under the impression that, unlike FM, AM HD cannot support multiple second channels, but only duplicate the main analog programming in digital. If this is correct, and also my assumption is that most, if not all of the stations implementing AM HD are a part of a multiple-station cluster with at least one FM which CAN offer separate programming on its secondary channel(s). Also, (asking tongue-in-cheek), I'm sure that all HD radios include FM? (there are no AM only HD radios to my knowledge).

So why do these AM stations want to destroy their analog audio response and nighttime sky wave coverage (in the case of the former clears), when it seems to me the logical thing would be to put the AM programming on one of their many FM stations' secondary channels? It will still be available on any HD radio, without the attendant mess on AM.

Am I missing something, or am I being too logical? The AM programming, unlike some "niche" format, is a proven ratings-getter, at least in the cases of many of the 50kW talkers which seem to be where the majority of the AM HD installs have occured. I wonder how many, if any, of these AM HD stations do NOT have a co-owned and possibly, co-located FM with an HD-2 available?
Click to expand...
 
wkbam1690 said:
So why do these AM stations want to destroy their analog audio response and nighttime sky wave coverage (in the case of the former clears), when it seems to me the logical thing would be to put the AM programming on one of their many FM stations' secondary channels? It will still be available on any HD radio, without the attendant mess on AM.

Am I missing something, or am I being too logical? The AM programming, unlike some "niche" format, is a proven ratings-getter, at least in the cases of many of the 50kW talkers which seem to be where the majority of the AM HD installs have occured. I wonder how many, if any, of these AM HD stations do NOT have a co-owned and possibly, co-located FM with an HD-2 available?
Click to expand...

It boggles the mind, doesn't it?

I'm sure someone will have exact figures, but I'll bet that most "viable" flame-thrower AM's have at least one FM sister station. That's just way to easy...
 
Play Freebird said:
"Our HD is off the air. We need authorization codes from iBiquity, but nobody is answering the phones! How do we reach someone in tech support?"
Click to expand...

If I were a station owner - that alone would be enough to permanently deter me from considering the system. One mistake in accounting - a lost check in the mail - they cut you off. I could not conceive of a better strategy to PO station managers.
 
Chicago's WGN comes to mind as having mo FM sister station.

These stations could strike a deal with an FM to get on the HD-2 or HD-3.

ATTENTION: Any Chicago FM HDs...Wanna make some money?
 
SOME money. But not much!! :D :D :D

If an FM called me today and asked me to pay to put my AM on a HD-FM sub, I'd say: call me back when you can prove that you have 200 hundred listeners to your FM side-channel.
 
WLS AM had the Hiss machine back on today, but it was off all day yesterday.

We can only hope the computer continues to lose the key, or whatever the problems is, it's persistant.

Enough times of that, and I think they might decide it's too much trouble.
At least they didn't lose their analog.
 
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