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If WBAP Had a Brain

I can't sleep at night without hearing that sexy voice of Gary Macnamara!!
 
I enjoy listening to Eric and Gary's overnight show. Isn't this show simulcast on Sirius Channel 147? Is that a significant source of income for WBAP?
 
Personally Iprefer Bill Mack. He's on XM now,but he brought a lot to that station andEric owes his career to him. The show has become overloaded with spots and the same tiresome issues. It needs a revamping.
 
WBAP has a brain, that's why they don't play smooth jazz on an AM radio station overnight.
Smooth jazz on WBAP would otherwise be known as "music to crash your truck by"
 
Smooth jazz on WBAP an AM would not work. Not until technology,and affordable receivers of such are created and manufactured. They had a chance with AM stereo in the 80's,but instead of making it one type of delivery system,they "let the market decide". Thus it crashed and interest was lost.
 
KPLEXCOMPLEX said:
Smooth jazz on WBAP an AM would not work. Not until technology,and affordable receivers of such are created and manufactured. They had a chance with AM stereo in the 80's,but instead of making it one type of delivery system,they "let the market decide". Thus it crashed and interest was lost.
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The technology does exist. It's called HD. AM in HD sounds just like FM. It's just a matter of time that Jazz might work on an AM. Not sure it would be right for WBAP since they are News-Talk and heavily on the right side politically.
 
Is this true? I read on a technical site that HD's codecs sound so bad that they barely passed the FCC's acceptance criteria, and then only because so much money was being sunk into it.

Has anyone actually listened to an HD broadcast, or been able to do a comparison?
 
There has been several posts on the subject. The HD sounds flatter in my opinion. The HD receivers are cost prohibitve for most. Laffer didnot read my post closely. If most cannot afford a receiver then smooth jazz on WBAP or any AM station would not work.
 
KPLEXCOMPLEX said:
There has been several posts on the subject. The HD sounds flatter in my opinion. The HD receivers are cost prohibitve for most. Laffer didnot read my post closely. If most cannot afford a receiver then smooth jazz on WBAP or any AM station would not work.
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It's just a matter of time before the prices come down and it's standard equipment in vehicles. As a matter of fact Radio Shack has them on sale for $99 with rebate. They're slowly coming dow. Yes it's flatter but thats because there is myth going around by purist you can't process digital very much.

As i stated before there is a huge difference from AM to HD AM. From FM to HD not much of a difference, then you have problems with signal. IBOC screws up the AM analog signal. Hear the hiss on KRLD in the day?

In the long run everything is going to streaming anyway. HD radio, Sattelitte will be just another alternative.
 
AM HD has a huge flaw: it cannot be operated at night. The sky wave interference makes it impossible to use HD on the AM band at night.

I am not optimistic about the future of HD radio as a whole, particularly on AM. There's a different digital hybrid system for AM that Leonard Kahn is running on a few stations that apparently does works at night. Unfortunately, there's little chance his technology will ever be in a signifcant number of radios.
 
HD is a niche and is radio's attempt to counter something that's a perceived threat, rather than a realistic one. Satellite radio isn't 1/1000th the threat that portable audio players are. HD has largely been a costly, wasted venture, just like satellite radio.
 
tested said:
AM HD has a huge flaw: it cannot be operated at night. The sky wave interference makes it impossible to use HD on the AM band at night.

I am not optimistic about the future of HD radio as a whole, particularly on AM. There's a different digital hybrid system for AM that Leonard Kahn is running on a few stations that apparently does works at night. Unfortunately, there's little chance his technology will ever be in a signifcant number of radios.
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With the last viable AM format moving rapidly to FM (KSL, KTAR, WTOP, WNLS, WOKV, etc ) the whole AM point may be moot.
 
-D.E.:

Before we turn out the lights and put the AM band to bed...
It still has its' advantages. Even the weakest directional daytimer in a major metro can reach hundreds of thousands of people. All that's needed is compelling content and a strong connection to a (potential) audience. The '70s-'80s-'90s concept of radio as jukebox that most program consultants worship will probably go away, but if the big money-boys give up on over-the-air free-delivery programming, that will open up the medium for people with a passion and a vision. My passion is still warm, and my vision is becoming more clear. Once the economics reach my 'price-point', I'll snag one of those 'ether-shakers' and do some service to the public.
 
Grant I hope you do and sign me up to help. The business executives of broadcasting are too dismissive and too blind to focus on the obvious. They constantly are a dog chasing their own tail,rather then pointed in the right direction and getting somewhere. To do that you got to listen outside the suit,laptop,research book,and know people,other than those you associate with. As Bob Dylan wrote ;"The answer my friend is blowing in the wind".
 
This post took an extremely weird turn. What was meant as a jab at the other 'if so-and-so had a brain' posts as well as a general poking of fun at the concept of 'smooth jazz' stations (or what's passing for smooth jazz stations nowadays) has turned into a debate over the benefits or lack thereof of HD radio.

Who cares? The quality of the sound shouldn't be the issue hear. AM has sounded horrible for years and it has made it this far. Why? -because of great programming. That's the real issue. The seeming extinction of great talent and unique local programming has ruined the industry, not HD radio or even satelite.
 
I agree with most of what you said "WBAP". Its a computer keyboard punch operator who is the alleged talent now, and they somehow are cheap enough to become PD's who take their orders from centralized office 400+ miles away. The over saturation of consulants, and market researchers have sterilized the industry. The blending of what NYC does with sanDiego,therefore it should work in Dallas is pure bureaucratic crap. Good Programming starts at home,with a person in charge who is truly qualified in the talent department to do it. Not some corporate lackey with no previous exposure (of a reasonable period of time) to the
market. A key ingredient why stations fail.
 
wbap247news said:
They would flip those overnight [EDIT] to the Smooth Jazz Radio Network.
Click to expand...

Better yet, they'd take that bombastic moron "Mad Jew" Mark
Levin off the air, [EDIT]

Then they could take Hannity, and royal blowhard Rush
out [EDIT].

Oh, and what would they do with all that open "air space" ??

Simple... go all news 24/7, keep their conservative idiot
views off the airwaves, and leave the BS talking to others.



[inflammatory]
 
Paul Boomer said:
Is this true? I read on a technical site that HD's codecs sound so bad that they barely passed the FCC's acceptance criteria, and then only because so much money was being sunk into it.

Has anyone actually listened to an HD broadcast, or been able to do a comparison?
Click to expand...

I have the $99 Radio Shack desktop radio...620 and 770 are NICE in HD. Too bad both had to bandlimit the analog audio at 5kHz (was 10Khz). Maybe 10% of factory car radios on the road have c-quam AM stereo (analog) and those people have lost not only the stereo, but half of the frequency range.
 
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