MUST-READS: RADIO WORLD ON IBOC-AM, DECEMBER 5TH ISSUE

[davideduardo]

It seem obvious to me that the AM version of IBOC will only be around as long as the Alliance keeps pumping life support into the chronically ill patient. At some point, you've got to wonder when even the stubborness of the Alliance will give way to the pragmatic realization that the $$$ devoted to AM IBOC have more or less been wasted.

The Alliance does only one thing... promote HD (and then, mostly FM) to consumers and to retalers. It spends nearly no money.

Too bad. Those $$$ could have been directed toward coming up with something that might have had a chance to stop (or at least slow down) the shortwaving of the AM band.

There is no money. 98% of the HD Alliance budget is really the value of the spots run in unsold time on member stations. And not all HD stations are members, by the way.

AM is doing a nice job of dying on its own. A few hope that riding on the FM system might help, but it is likely to late for even that to work in the long haul.