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Mono for Talk on FM

C

carolinaradio

Do many major-market stations that are running news, sports, whatever sort of talk on FM run the signal in Mono instead of Stereo? I bring this up because a news/talk station on FM in my area runs in stereo and the signal would be so much better if they would switch the stereo carrier off. An argument I've seen is that 'listeners would think their radios are broken', but I don't know if that's valid or not. It is amazing that when a station is broadcasting in mono, the signal goes much further, and especially with talk, it sounds cleaner in the background. There is a sports talk station a good way off that comes in VERY well given the distance between my location and the transmitter due to the fact that it's mono. Stereo is to enhance the sound quality. You can't do much with talk, so why use it when you can transmit in mono and go out further?

Just wondering if many major market talk stations on FM broadcast in mono. Makes a lot of sense to me.
 
The average listener would not think the radio is broken. Most FM talk stations run in mono. There is no justifiable reason to run a stereo pilot unless one is programming music, and even then not always.
 
I've had this discussion with an engineer for an FM ESPN station, and his concern is that a radio's scanning function won't stop on a channel unless it sees a stereo pilot. I don't know enough about receivers to know if many or most of them stop on pilots, but my argument for mono on FM talkers is the improved coverage and a listener will find it if that's what they want.
 
WTOP-FM runs in mono in Washington, DC. It is a 24 hour rolling news station. Prior to it's move to 103.5, it was a on rimshot at 107.7 that was also in mono. Frankly, you couldn't tell it was not in mono. When it was simulcasting on 1500 AM (the traditional home for WTOP), Bonneville had the processing set so well on AM you couldn't tell you weren't listening to FM.
 
Good insight, thanks all! DudeFan, does WNKT run mono or stereo?

I had forgotten that a lot of radios don't scan on mono stations. Mine stops on mono stations, not sure how many do. But I agree that they would find it eventually anyway. If you're on a C it isn't bad, but if you're a C3 running talk, and start getting a little way from the transmitter, the signal may still be good but there is background noise and you can hear blips of static in the background. Mono kills that. Most listeners probably don't notice/care, though.
 
WNKT is running in mono.

My OEM Audi radio doesn't even have a stereo indicator. I think a majority of the newer (mid-90's to present) don't use the pilot for a general scan. They may use it for auto-seek to determine the strongest stations.
 
Over here a lot of the popular stations run stereo 24/7 for some odd reason. They are probably scared to loose listeners but usually the reasoning behind it is kind of silly. I have never seen a radio not stop on a mono station when scanning. I truly believe it's an old myth. At least show me a radio that really does scan past a mono station and I'll change my mind.
Going mono for talk or older music that was recorded in mono used to be a station procedure. If I recall correctly the FCC requested that stations did this way back in the day. However many stations no longer as it's too much of a hassle I guess?
Lower powered stations should do the stereo/mono switch when need be since like you said it gives better coverage.
I run a little micro powered station here just for fun and on my mixer there is a mono/stereo switch. I just simply wired the switch to an external relay that would switch the transmitters pilot on/off along with the mixers output audio going stereo/mono respectively. Really not hard to do and helps my flea power to get a little further :)
Most college stations I have listened to seem to abide by the old rule of going mono when need be, and trust me it does help a ton.
If on the listening end it can help to switch your radio to mono when listening to talk on FM. I do this with my house stereo and it helps hide the noise from the pilot signal.
 
Boston-based non-comm WBUR-FM 90.9 runs in mono during all talk programs EXCEPT for "It's Only A Game", a show it produces and that very often uses pre-recorded material in strereo.
 
Well, it used to be a requirement under the Rules, but that Rule has since been dropped. However, the pros are:

1. Better coverage due to reduced S/n.
2 ditteo due to reduced multipath

The cons are:

1. It doesn't light the 'stereo'light if there is one.
2. On those radios with 'scan stereo only', the scan function won't stop.

Consider that, if it isproperly promoted, residents of the market will sample it, and if they like it they will become partisans. The guy driving through town with the radio set to scan stereo only will not get it. He does not carry a PPM in you rmarlet,nor does he buy from your advertisers. He is an unperson.

If I had a talk only FM, it would run in mono. (I'd also clear out any music at all, and turn up some uncopyrighted stuff for bumpers and have a non-union musician record it for me, after which I would invite ASCAP/BMI/SESAC/etcto osculate unmentionable poortions of my anatomy)
 
Never had a radio that wouldn't stop on a mono station.
Local University station has a pair of FM's. The mostly talk one has always been mono. Now it's also HD, but the HD seems to be a mono feed too. Runs only 3.7 kW ERP when everyone else is around 50 kW and does just as good.
 
Twenty years ago, the two non-com/NPR affiliates in Lexington, KY killed the pilot during Morning Edition and All Things Considered. It was a competitive move to improve the signal as both station shared an antenna location fifteen miles south of town. Back then the two programs were mono, these days they are stereo.

Drifting the topic a bit, back in the day many AM's would transmit in stereo even if they had talk programming. AM stereo car radios would open up the bandwidth when they received the pilot so it would sound better.
 
Both FM N/Ts in Seattle run in mono and back in the 90s when KQBZ (now KKWF) was talk it also ran in mono.
 
I have a 1993 Ford and it will stop on Mono, just a factory AM/FM/cassette radio. I drive rental cars frequently (Toyota and Nissan) and they stop on mono. Seems to me they determine more by signal strength.

The station in my area (WYRD) used to be a music station so they just may not care to bother. WSCC in Charleston, SC is talk and stereo also last time I checked.

Greater Media's WBT/Charlotte has a C3 FM at 99.3 licensed to Chester, SC....they run Mono and it is amazing how much further that signal goes. According to maps you see online, you shouldn't even be able to get it here, but the mono helps greatly.
 
We are co-channel to WBT-F Chester and WWKT Kingstree. The ducting during the summer months from both kills us on the fringes once the atmosphere starts cooling in the late evening. We usually kill the pilot on those conditions and it does help some.
 
WSGS in Hazard, KY is returning to stereo soon but plans to broadcast talk shows and sports in mono due to stereo break up problems. They use to do that years ago.
 
So I guess the real question of the week is how would you guys impliment turning off the stereo pilot during mono programming without becoming an issue that's a nucance for engineering? I have a dual stick operation that has an 8100 with the xt2 and an orban 2200. I could probably figure out how to southern engineer a timer to the old 8100 but what do I do with the 2200? At some point I'd like to upgrade my processors anyway so I have another question. I don't think I can schedule events in the omnia one so can I can for a script to be ran from the db 9 contact closure jack? Has that been implimented yet by Omnia?
 
OKCRadioGuy said:
I have a dual stick operation that has an 8100 with the xt2 and an orban 2200. I could probably figure out how to southern engineer a timer to the old 8100 but what do I do with the 2200?
Click to expand...

The same as you would do with 8100/XT2 - 2200 has a remote interface that you can use to switch 2200 to mono (sum) operation with pilot off.


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
Given my lack of technical knowledge... Not a total absence, just a lack... If you run mono, do you still have to brickwall to protect the pilot? What is it 19khz? Can you let that higher audio pass through, thus adding some extra sparkle to the somewhat now dulled mono content?
 
OKCRadioGuy said:
So I guess the real question of the week is how would you guys impliment turning off the stereo pilot during mono programming without becoming an issue that's a nucance for engineering? I have a dual stick operation that has an 8100 with the xt2 and an orban 2200. I could probably figure out how to southern engineer a timer to the old 8100 but what do I do with the 2200? At some point I'd like to upgrade my processors anyway so I have another question. I don't think I can schedule events in the omnia one so can I can for a script to be ran from the db 9 contact closure jack? Has that been implimented yet by Omnia?
Click to expand...

When the 8100 is switched to mono it takes one channel and doesn't sum L+R. IIRC, the first toggle to mono will feed the left channel in mono and a second hit of the toggle feeds the right channel. As long as the audio isn't in extreme stereo then it won't be a problem.
 
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