IBOC is "The Radio Racket" on 1/26-27

[hipporadio]

The “Radio Racket” is a popular weekly program on the net about radio (primarily Philadelphia and the northeast)—informative with great industry guests, live calls, and downright hilarious with juicy gossip and parody spots. It streams from Philly each Friday from 10PM-2AM at www.radioracket.com and features vets George Brusstar and Kyle DeWitt with a very well-produced weekly summary of “the biz”.

Tonight (1/26-27), HD radio came up as a topic discussed between 10:45 and 11:30. The two hosts “make no bones” about their stance on HD... Here’s a nearly-accurate quickly-transcribed summation that is somewhat amusing with the first caller (an entry-level FM station employee)...

HOST A: So tell us about your new HD radio.

CALLER: I bought it at Tweeter.

HOST B: How many of the employees laughed at you?

CALLER: None knew what the hell it was!

HOST A: Was the box covered with dust?

CALLER: There was only one left in a box.

HOST A: There was only one ordered for the entire store, so just why did you buy it?

CALLER: They told us at the station that we may be going HD soon.

HOST B: What station?

CALLER: W*** at the ****** shore.

[BOTH HOSTS]: With 3000-watts—RIGHT... [yell] WRONG! [laughing]

HOST A: Any New York or Philly stations in HD at the shore?

CALLER: NONE... I’m less than 50-miles away.

HOST A: So did you keep the receipt?

CALLER: I can get F****-FM if I climb 15-feet up a tree at my house.

HOST B: You listen to HD radio up in a tree?

HOST A: You listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd's “Sweet Home Alabama” on HD up in a tree?

CALLER: My extension cord’s just a bit longer than the dipole.

HOST B: Any HD-2 on F****-FM?

HOST A: OHHH—WE have more listeners on the net in Montana than THEY have in HD-2!

CALLER: I didn’t think they have HD there, but they have it in Boyertown.

HOST B: If there's NPR—and seven piano professors in Boyertown... There's HD radio.

HOST A: Stupid question, but which HD radio did you buy—aren’t there only three?

CALLER: The Boston Acoustics Receptor.

HOST A: Like I said... Did you save the receipt?

CALLER: ‘Guess I might need it. When I crank the volume—the HD light blinks.

HOST B: Wait till you try to monitor in headphones off the air—you’ll find yourself with a stuttering problem.

CALLER: We were supposed to get it last summer, but it’s been put-off several times... Budget cuts!

HOST A: NO... COVERAGE CUTS!

CALLER: We got hit hard when W*** New York went IBOC. Our signal sucks in ******** County now.

HOST B: I know... I saw the ratings!

HOST A: Next hour on the show I’ll announce my "solution" for AM HD!

HOST B: Would that involve the “power-off” switch?

As an extra-special feature, hear R-I’s Paul B. Walker Jr. beg for an old broken cart machine from the Racket Team and talk about the listener/station visiter with handcuffs at his new gig in rural South Carolina AM radio. The show is looped for continuous replay for a full week after the live stream at their site. It’s impossible to zoom into an exact time frame, but you may enjoy giving it a listen. Most times—this is really good stuff (HD or not)!

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

The “Radio Racket” is a popular weekly program on the net about radio (primarily Philadelphia and the northeast)—informative with great industry guests, live calls, and downright hilarious with juicy gossip and parody spots. It streams from Philly each Friday from 10PM-2AM at www.radioracket.com and features vets George Brusstar and Kyle DeWitt with a very well-produced weekly summary of “the biz”.

Tonight (1/26-27), HD radio came up as a topic discussed between 10:45 and 11:30. The two hosts “make no bones” about their stance on HD... Here’s a nearly-accurate quickly-transcribed summation that is somewhat amusing with the first caller (an entry-level FM station employee)...

HOST A: So tell us about your new HD radio.

CALLER: I bought it at Tweeter.

HOST B: How many of the employees laughed at you?

CALLER: None knew what the hell it was!

HOST A: Was the box covered with dust?

CALLER: There was only one left in a box.

HOST A: There was only one ordered for the entire store, so just why did you buy it?

CALLER: They told us at the station that we may be going HD soon.

HOST B: What station?

CALLER: W*** at the ****** shore.

[BOTH HOSTS]: With 3000-watts—RIGHT... [yell] WRONG! [laughing]

HOST A: Any New York or Philly stations in HD at the shore?

CALLER: NONE... I’m less than 50-miles away.

HOST A: So did you keep the receipt?

CALLER: I can get F****-FM if I climb 15-feet up a tree at my house.

HOST B: You listen to HD radio up in a tree?

HOST A: You listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd's “Sweet Home Alabama” on HD up in a tree?

CALLER: My extension cord’s just a bit longer than the dipole.

HOST B: Any HD-2 on F****-FM?

HOST A: OHHH—WE have more listeners on the net in Montana than THEY have in HD-2!

CALLER: I didn’t think they have HD there, but they have it in Boyertown.

HOST B: If there's NPR—and seven piano professors in Boyertown... There's HD radio.

HOST A: Stupid question, but which HD radio did you buy—aren’t there only three?

CALLER: The Boston Acoustics Receptor.

HOST A: Like I said... Did you save the receipt?

CALLER: ‘Guess I might need it. When I crank the volume—the HD light blinks.

HOST B: Wait till you try to monitor in headphones off the air—you’ll find yourself with a stuttering problem.

CALLER: We were supposed to get it last summer, but it’s been put-off several times... Budget cuts!

HOST A: NO... COVERAGE CUTS!

CALLER: We got hit hard when W*** New York went IBOC. Our signal sucks in ******** County now.

HOST B: I know... I saw the ratings!

HOST A: Next hour on the show I’ll announce my "solution" for AM HD!

HOST B: Would that involve the “power-off” switch?

As an extra-special feature, hear R-I’s Paul B. Walker Jr. beg for an old broken cart machine from the Racket Team and talk about the listener/station visiter with handcuffs at his new gig in rural South Carolina AM radio. The show is looped for continuous replay for a full week after the live stream at their site. It’s impossible to zoom into an exact time frame, but you may enjoy giving it a listen. Most times—this is really good stuff (HD or not)!

How peculiarly appropriate that this was discussed on a program called "the Radio Racket." The way iNiquity has bamboozled the FCC into going along with the huge licensing fees they extort from...er, charge...each station which installs HD closely resembles a racket.

 

[hipporadio]

It isn’t “Dumb Pet Tricks”—it’s this week’s edition of “HD Radio on the Racket” (2/2/07)

Last week, an HD Radio listener was caught 15-feet up a tree with a dipole dangling...

This week, IBOC makes its way to a 1kw “graveyard channel” AM on 1340 in Philly with a new format of Alternative Rock plus some Hip-Hop, Reggae, and live poetry...

Of all the “experiments in broadcasting”—this one is off the Richter Scale. After its life as a heritage station serving the African-American community suddenly ended a few weeks ago, WHAT’s new owner has chosen to target 18-24 MEN on the lowest-coverage station in the seventh-ranked market. “Skin Radio” proclaims “We will be different”... They follow no “charts”, no past industry template, allow local poets to walk in and read their works on the air, accommodate unsigned local bands, and hire NO “radio types”.

Alvin—their 20-something PD void of ANY radio experience joined his professional antitheses George and Kyle last night on the live streaming netcast about radio. One would think the hosts would turn the station’s unconventional direction into “red meat”... Not so until certain technical matters came into focus...

[PARAPHRASED beginning 20-minutes into the interview]

GB: You’re doing something SO totally different... Groundbreaking... You HAVE to have “ba**s” to even imagine something like this. You’re hoping to get an audience that isn’t even on FM—let alone knowing that the AM band exists. If you even capture the smallest share, you will be an inspiration to hundreds of AM stations with little hope. I think this is so exciting... I like it—and I’m not supposed too, and I wish only the best for you. We here at “The Radio Racket” want to buy the first commercial spot on your air!

thePD: Well, I’ll pass that on to the powers that be... We finally switched over from our low-rate legacy streaming at 3PM Wednesday to 80k and we finally got all the wrongly-added Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam out of the system.

KD: Just don’t take Arrested Development out!

GB: NO—I like “Mr. Wendel”... I like a lot of your music when I can hear the station.

thePD: Well we’re working on the signal...

GB: Which leads me to my BIG-TIME beef! What for God’s sake is this HD radio about? You have the weakest signal in town, and you’ve just weakened it further—and trashed it to boot. This is... maybe OK on a 50-thousand watt AM station—

KD: OH NO IT’S NOT!

GB: Well... YEAH! I used to hear you clearly during the day... Now it’s a mess! Nothing but HISSSSS, BUZZZZZ, and hetero—

KD: WELL... At least its “hetero” instead of... ‘ya know...

thePD: NOW... We have plenty of room for everyone in our audience at Skin Radio.

GB: But the AM band doesn’t have enough room for all that HD radio noise... It sounds like... [hilarious aural imitation from GB followed]

the PD: Well... You must not be listening from our range limit.

GB: EIGHT MILES AWAY from your transmitter in King of Prussia isn’t in your coverage area? WRONG! I can hear all the IBOC trash—I just can barely hear your format over all that garbage. You’ve ruined what little signal you have.

thePD: They told us it was the wave of the future... It would help our signal... And our age group wants better sound.

KD: RIGHT... Look, I’m not nearly as old as George—I was in college in the 90s and I can tell you none... N-O-N-E of us LET ALONE YOUR CROWD are going to spend $200 on an HD radio!

thePD: We paid under a hundred for the one in our lobby that we use for our audience HD demo.

KD: You ask listeners to come to your lobby to hear HD radio?

thePD: They can stop by anytime during the day, hang out, and enjoy HD radio in our lobby.

GB: And thank God only during the day... I mean, ahhh 4-45 you HAVE to turn it off?

thePD: Right... We get to use it only during the day.

KD: But much of your audience listens at night!

GB: IF they can get the station—look... for those 30 to 45-minutes after you turn it off... That's THE ONLY time I can hear your station! HD radio off... Skin Radio on!

thePD: Well, you can come to our lobby and listen to HD radio, and its going to be in new cars next year.

GB: Oh NO IT’S NOT!

thePD: It’s in Mercedes—

KD: I know thousands of 20-year-olds that drive them around

thePD: [laughing] Well... Maybe a few young accountants.

KD: What about the other target listeners who are too smart to waste $200 on HD radio? Can they come to your lobby if they can’t drive a new Benz?

GB: Can all 27 of them fit in your lobby? Look... I know you guys have a very steep hill to climb and I REALLY want you to make it—but your signal... AARRRGG... The half of your antenna called the ground—because it’s buried IN the ground—was eaten away 20-years ago... And instead of fixing it, you’re flushing money on HD radio and RUINING what little is left of that signal to please a couple-dozen people who hang out in your lobby... Does Tom [the owner] listen to you in HD radio?

thePD: Only in the lobby... He can’t get it at his home.

KD: You have a busy lobby...
_____________________________________________________________________

And the saga continues on looped replay for the next week at www.theradioracket.com

Some may find this humorous... Some may find it to be a waste of space... I find it so sad it must be repeated!

 

[Black_Shire]

"Paging Dr. C-QUAM, you're needed in the psychiatric ward STAT! Patient with delusions has seized a lethal dose of curare and is exclaiming that it's only Kool-Aid! Paging Dr. C-QUAM!"


-- Black Shire

It isn’t “Dumb Pet Tricks”—it’s this week’s edition of “HD Radio on the Racket” (2/2/07)

Last week, an HD Radio listener was caught 15-feet up a tree with a dipole dangling...

This week, IBOC makes its way to a 1kw “graveyard channel” AM on 1340 in Philly with a new format of Alternative Rock plus some Hip-Hop, Reggae, and live poetry...

Of all the “experiments in broadcasting”—this one is off the Richter Scale. After its life as a heritage station serving the African-American community suddenly ended a few weeks ago, WHAT’s new owner has chosen to target 18-24 MEN on the lowest-coverage station in the seventh-ranked market. “Skin Radio” proclaims “We will be different”... They follow no “charts”, no past industry template, allow local poets to walk in and read their works on the air, accommodate unsigned local bands, and hire NO “radio types”.

Alvin—their 20-something PD void of ANY radio experience joined his professional antitheses George and Kyle last night on the live streaming netcast about radio. One would think the hosts would turn the station’s unconventional direction into “red meat”... Not so until certain technical matters came into focus...

[PARAPHRASED beginning 20-minutes into the interview]

GB: You’re doing something SO totally different... Groundbreaking... You HAVE to have “ba**s” to even imagine something like this. You’re hoping to get an audience that isn’t even on FM—let alone knowing that the AM band exists. If you even capture the smallest share, you will be an inspiration to hundreds of AM stations with little hope. I think this is so exciting... I like it—and I’m not supposed too, and I wish only the best for you. We here at “The Radio Racket” want to buy the first commercial spot on your air!

thePD: Well, I’ll pass that on to the powers that be... We finally switched over from our low-rate legacy streaming at 3PM Wednesday to 80k and we finally got all the wrongly-added Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam out of the system.

KD: Just don’t take Arrested Development out!

GB: NO—I like “Mr. Wendel”... I like a lot of your music when I can hear the station.

thePD: Well we’re working on the signal...

GB: Which leads me to my BIG-TIME beef! What for God’s sake is this HD radio about? You have the weakest signal in town, and you’ve just weakened it further—and trashed it to boot. This is... maybe OK on a 50-thousand watt AM station—

KD: OH NO IT’S NOT!

GB: Well... YEAH! I used to hear you clearly during the day... Now it’s a mess! Nothing but HISSSSS, BUZZZZZ, and hetero—

KD: WELL... At least its “hetero” instead of... ‘ya know...

thePD: NOW... We have plenty of room for everyone in our audience at Skin Radio.

GB: But the AM band doesn’t have enough room for all that HD radio noise... It sounds like... [hilarious aural imitation from GB followed]

the PD: Well... You must not be listening from our range limit.

GB: EIGHT MILES AWAY from your transmitter in King of Prussia isn’t in your coverage area? WRONG! I can hear all the IBOC trash—I just can barely hear your format over all that garbage. You’ve ruined what little signal you have.

thePD: They told us it was the wave of the future... It would help our signal... And our age group wants better sound.

KD: RIGHT... Look, I’m not nearly as old as George—I was in college in the 90s and I can tell you none... N-O-N-E of us LET ALONE YOUR CROWD are going to spend $200 on an HD radio!

thePD: We paid under a hundred for the one in our lobby that we use for our audience HD demo.

KD: You ask listeners to come to your lobby to hear HD radio?

thePD: They can stop by anytime during the day, hang out, and enjoy HD radio in our lobby.

GB: And thank God only during the day... I mean, ahhh 4-45 you HAVE to turn it off?

thePD: Right... We get to use it only during the day.

KD: But much of your audience listens at night!

GB: IF they can get the station—look... for those 30 to 45-minutes after you turn it off... That's THE ONLY time I can hear your station! HD radio off... Skin Radio on!

thePD: Well, you can come to our lobby and listen to HD radio, and its going to be in new cars next year.

GB: Oh NO IT’S NOT!

thePD: It’s in Mercedes—

KD: I know thousands of 20-year-olds that drive them around

thePD: [laughing] Well... Maybe a few young accountants.

KD: What about the other target listeners who are too smart to waste $200 on HD radio? Can they come to your lobby if they can’t drive a new Benz?

GB: Can all 27 of them fit in your lobby? Look... I know you guys have a very steep hill to climb and I REALLY want you to make it—but your signal... AARRRGG... The half of your antenna called the ground—because it’s buried IN the ground—was eaten away 20-years ago... And instead of fixing it, you’re flushing money on HD radio and RUINING what little is left of that signal to please a couple-dozen people who hang out in your lobby... Does Tom [the owner] listen to you in HD radio?

thePD: Only in the lobby... He can’t get it at his home.

KD: You have a busy lobby...
_____________________________________________________________________

And the saga continues on looped replay for the next week at www.theradioracket.com

Some may find this humorous... Some may find it to be a waste of space... I find it so sad it must be repeated!

 

[700WLW]

"Paging Dr. C-QUAM, you're needed in the psychiatric ward STAT! Patient with delusions has seized a lethal dose of curare and is exclaiming that it's only Kool-Aid! Paging Dr. C-QUAM!"

-- Black Shire

Well, that was an intelligent response - looks like, word is getting out about iNiquity's flawed system, and what a joke, HD Radio is becoming.

 

[hipporadio]

"Paging Dr. C-QUAM, you're needed in the psychiatric ward STAT! Patient with delusions has seized a lethal dose of curare and is exclaiming that it's only Kool-Aid! Paging Dr. C-QUAM!"

-- Black Shire

Just what we need here—a bit of “comedy relief” from time-to-time... GOOD ONE, Black Shire... It’s ONLY fledgling HD Radio and its under-one-percent market penetration... AM HD = awful... “lightening up” = nice!

And the saga continues on looped replay for the next week at www.theradioracket.com

SORRY... the correct link to “The Racket” is www.radioracket.com

 

[hipporadio]

Re: The "Skinny" on IBOC as first reported on "The Radio Racket" 2/2/07

Looks like Skin Radio has spoken. IBOC makes its 1kw "AM Alt-Rock" debut in Philly. I wonder how Bush sounds with the Buzz-Saw running? 'Wish I could get a tape of this

from myspace

At sunrise on Wednesday, January 31st, new Philadelphia Alternative Rock radio station "Skin Radio" will begin broadcasting in HD Radio on AM 1340. Skin Radio, Philadelphia, is the first major market AM station in the country to broadcast a new music format in HD Radio on the AM band. The new digital technology dramatically improves the audio quality of AM radio. With an HD Radio receiver, AM sounds as good as FM. Also HD Radios can display the titles and artists of songs playing. Traditional analog radios will still be able to receive the station's analog simulcast.

Skin Radio will welcome listeners to visit the radio station [lobby] in Manayunk to hear HD Radio for themselves [on the HD Accurian with 2-inch speakers]. The station will also be demonstrating the new audio technology at locations around Philadelphia [within a FIVE-MILE radius of the tower]. Currently, the FCC allows AM stations to broadcast in HD from sunrise to sunset. Soon, it will be permitted 24 hours a day. [God--let's hope not!]

According to Skin Radio owner and General Manager Tom Kelly, "Listeners are going to love HD Radio [not if they have to pay $200 to listen on AM]. And we are proud to put Philadelphia in the spotlight with this revolutionary new technology on Skin Radio. The alternative music audience in Philadelphia has been starving for this music, and now with HD Radio, the audio quality of AM rivals FM."

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=131152293&blogID=224200836&MyToken=c8948b1f-9553-4956-a641-a39e2641d056

 

[SUPERCASTER]

From previous post:

Skin Radio will welcome listeners to visit the radio station [lobby] in Manayunk
to hear HD Radio for themselves

So HD supporters and listeners just a bunch of "lobbyists"? ;D

Perhaps www.radioracket.com will feature an iBuzz aircheck of "skin radio" WHAT 1340 AM.

 

[Black_Shire]

Thank you for the compliments regarding my little "zinger"--a good horse laugh every now and then is good for the soul.

Also, I contacted the GM of the newly "HD-fied" Philadelphia 1 kW AM station in question regarding the C-QUAM AM Stereo alternative, and he replied: "At this point, we're committed to HD. We are hoping for the best."

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of HD AM, eh?


-- Black Shire

 

[hipporadio]

Philly feedback on IBOC at "Skin Radio"

Skin Radio in HD... “Radio Racket’s” George Brusstar speaks.

[From the Philadelphia board]

While I wholeheartedly support and am enjoying very much what the folks at Skinradio are doing with WHAT (trying something different with a facility that probably would have ended up with brokered programming or ESPN Radio under different owners), I can't share Mr. Kelly's enthusiasm when it comes to the station's launch of "HD Radio".

Previously, I could enjoy a marginal yet clear signal during the daytime in the kitchen of my King of Prussia home. Once the "HD Radio" was activated, the same station is pretty much unlistenable on that very same kitchen radio. In addition to the usual iBiquity hash noise underneath the audio, there is an unpleasant "whooshing" sound mixed in with what sounds like a heterodyne. And while I'm unaware of there having been anything worth listening to on brokered WNJC (1360), that station is now completely gone from the dial. It had been audible before. Plus, I'll occasionally check in on Pottstown's WPAZ (1370) for Paul Harvey. Hearing that station too has become challenging at times ever since WHAT added this "technological improvement".

Skinradio already had its work cut out for itself, as it was endeavoring to convince twenty- and thirty-somethings to listen to music on a low-power AM. Now, the few who could hear it will be faced with even worse sound quality (not much better than audio via telephone). And to think college aged listeners are going to spend even $100 on a radio that might get one station for half the day seems rather shortsighted.

As the station's program director revealed this past weekend on The Radio Racket, Skinradio has significantly beefed up its webstream. I believe more people can listen at once, and the bitrate (80k?) sounds very, very good. THAT will be the huge answer to this wonderful little station's success-- not the nonsensical bunkum that is "HD Radio". And just think-- the new webstream already has three giant advantages over the station's activation of "HD Radio":

1. The new webstream does nothing to affect the over-the-air signal
2. It is available 24 hours a day, unlike Skinradio's "HD" feed
3. 99.99% of Skinradio's target audience has broadband, while the only ones with access to the station's half-of-the-day "HD" feed are already working at the station (and could just listen right off the board, anyway)

For the sake of the great work that's being done by the people involved (as well as for the sake of WHAT's new listeners), I hope the focus remains on building one hell of a unique radio station. Spending too much time and money promoting something few need, want, or will embrace I fear might be an unnecessary distraction.

Was George's kitchen radio "broken" until IBOC broke it?

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Re: Philly feedback on IBOC at "Skin Radio"

Was George's kitchen radio "broken" until IBOC broke it?

The quite predictable result of turning IBOC on. Any engineer worth his or her salt could have told them what would happen. The number of documented cases of AM-HD interfering either with its own analog signal or others is growing by the day, and the hash can extend for hundreds of miles. The FCC needs to slaughter this turkey...NOW. It violates every prudent facet of good engineering practice and, if it's not stopped, is going to put an end to any usefulness the AM band ever had.

 

[700WLW]

Re: Philly feedback on IBOC at "Skin Radio"

Was George's kitchen radio "broken" until IBOC broke it?

The quite predictable result of turning IBOC on. Any engineer worth his or her salt could have told them what would happen. The number of documented cases of AM-HD interfering either with its own analog signal or others is growing by the day, and the hash can extend for hundreds of miles. The FCC needs to slaughter this turkey...NOW. It violates every prudent facet of good engineering practice and, if it's not stopped, is going to put an end to any usefulness the AM band ever had.

Dumber, help ! Someone here has OCD/unresolved anger issues and we are being taken over !