Mexico Officially Approves of HD Radio

[davideduardo]

Downgrading to HD won't help a station compete within a cross-border market, it'll just help with retaliating against adjacents in other markets throwing IBUZ across the border. Might make them think twice before installing an adjacent-channel-polluter, since Mexican stations can fire back with a whopping 50000 watts of IBUZ and wipe them out at night. Imagine a 50000 watt clear channel signal full of noise.

Since Mexico is in the process of moving perhaps 80% of its AMs to FM after determining that AM was not viable in the long run, it's unlikely that they care a great deal about the AM situation and no private owner would build a 50 kw AM just for its annoyance value.

 

[Tom Wells]

Downgrading to HD won't help a station compete within a cross-border market, it'll just help with retaliating against adjacents in other markets throwing IBUZ across the border. Might make them think twice before installing an adjacent-channel-polluter, since Mexican stations can fire back with a whopping 50000 watts of IBUZ and wipe them out at night. Imagine a 50000 watt clear channel signal full of noise.

no private owner would build a 50 kw AM just for its annoyance value.

But that's my life's dream.......

 

[N1WVQ]

Maybe iBiquity can sell some to Castro....

 

[nd2023]

The 500kw AM stations exist. That would result in 50kw of IBUZ.

Cuba should adopt HD Radio next, since that would perfectly fulfill their mission to jam stations that go against their agenda. All they need to do is move the jamming stations to the adjacents and the IBUZ will take care of the rest.

 

[KB1OKL]

no private owner would build a 50 kw AM just for its annoyance value.

no, so far they just add HD to them

 

[davideduardo]

The 500kw AM stations exist. That would result in 50kw of IBUZ.

As far as I know, there is no 500 kw AM station in the Western Hemisphere. The few that have existed (and the two briefly operated million watters) are long gone. Mexico has not had one since the 30's, in fact.

 

[jim8230]

And how will they convince the average Mexican, that cannot afford most of the things Americans take for granted, to spend what little money they might have on some new HD radios?

 

[nd2023]

And how will they convince the average Mexican, that cannot afford most of the things Americans take for granted, to spend what little money they might have on some new HD radios?

Even wealthy Americans won't spend $50 for an HD radio.

 

[Tom Wells]

And how will they convince the average Mexican, that cannot afford most of the things Americans take for granted, to spend what little money they might have on some new HD radios?

Even wealthy Americans won't spend $50 for an HD radio.

It's not as though anyone needs an HD radio to hear the "improvement" HD brings to the AM dial. :

I would pay $50 to turn off HD per month, or would gladly spend $500 on a piece of equipment that could turn AM
audio mangled by HD ( on channel or adjacents) back into a clear usable signal.
I would pay even more for a device that would...... never mind.

 

[davideduardo]

And how will they convince the average Mexican, that cannot afford most of the things Americans take for granted, to spend what little money they might have on some new HD radios?

There are so many differences in the business model of radio in Mexico or Latin America you could write a thesis about them.

But, in this particular context it's significant that radio advertising is not bought based on age ranges as it is in the US. Radio buys are made on socioeconomic level, with Mexico having at least five levels, A, B, C, D and E from the higher income to the economicly non-productive. In many cases, C+ is used to break out higher income laborers, generally urban, from lower income segments of C.

A station with a 15 share mostly concentrated in D and E, as one Mexico City station has, may bill less than half the level of a 4 share station that is mostly A,B and C+. So the only audience of interest to a large percentage of advertisers is precisely the audience that local broadcasters perhaps feel would be interesed in new technologies.

In other words, although there may be other aspects of HD that will affect its success, the cost of radios in Mexico is not one of them.

 

[nd2023]

That socioeconomic model is way better than the age ranges in the US. If there are a lot of "A"s that are 55+, they should be paid more attention to.

 

[Chuck]

But, in this particular context it's significant that radio advertising is not bought based on age ranges as it is in the US. Radio buys are made on socioeconomic level, with Mexico having at least five levels, A, B, C, D and E from the higher income to the economicly non-productive. In many cases, C+ is used to break out higher income laborers, generally urban, from lower income segments of C.

A station with a 15 share mostly concentrated in D and E, as one Mexico City station has, may bill less than half the level of a 4 share station that is mostly A,B and C+. So the only audience of interest to a large percentage of advertisers is precisely the audience that local broadcasters perhaps feel would be interesed in new technologies.

Thanks for that explanation David. That system actually makes a lot of sense. In fact, I wouldn't be all that surprised to find that some advertisers adopt something similar here in the US. Between an aging, but fairly affluent , Baby Boom Generation, the increasing amount of ethnic broadcasting, and an increasing diversity between age group; Just being number one with 12+ is becoming even more meaningless than it ever was. Add the proliferation of alternative means of advertising and entertainment, and you have a situation that take some real sooth-saying to figure out.