"Naysayers" Propose Workable Solution to AM IBOC Debacle

[TheBigA]

Corporate radio owns the - largest shares of ears- and controls much of the market. The independents are out there for sure -but on a much smaller scale.

No one "owns" any ears. The public has loads of options and choices.

To assume anyone owns ears because they own radio stations is a huge mistake that no one makes any more. It's a huge battle for the ears of the public.

 

[KB1OKL]

Corporate radio owns the - largest shares of ears- and controls much of the market. The independents are out there for sure -but on a much smaller scale.

No one "owns" any ears. The public has loads of options and choices.

To assume anyone owns ears because they own radio stations is a huge mistake that no one makes any more. It's a huge battle for the ears of the public.

Where are your facts to back up your assertion?

This Arbitron and Edison Media Research study pretty much backs up pocket-radio's point, corporate radio does still control the "ears" of the radio listening public and is not expected to change much in the near future:


“On a weekly basis, AM/FM radio is used by the overwhelming majority of Americans, and it continues to have a big impact on the lives of consumers,” said Bill Rose, SVP of Marketing, Arbitron Inc.

“In addition, the widely held perception that people who use new digital platforms listen less to over-the-air radio is false. In fact, users of digital radio platforms spend just as much time listening to over-the-air radio as the average consumer.”

http://www.marketingcharts.com/?attachment_id=519

 

[TheBigA]

Maybe you can point out where it says that "corporate radio" controls the ears. I don't see the word "corporate" at all. The quotes and graphs refer to AM/FM Radio, of which, as I said before, only 25% is owned by major radio corporations. Thousands of AM/FM radio stations owned by small companies, individuals, churches, schools, and community groups.

 

[TheBigA]

I find it interesting that after all the discussion and all the proposals about HD in this thread, today the FCC asks for comments on making HD required on satellite devices.

I'm sure they'll receive some very predictable comments from the regulars here.

 

[Tom Wells]

I find it interesting that after all the discussion and all the proposals about HD in this thread, today the FCC asks for comments on making HD required on satellite devices.

I'm sure they'll receive some very predictable comments from the regulars here.

Umm, where would they hide the whip antenna on sat devices? Will they try to use the headphone cord?
What about car radios? Will they use ferrite stick antennas for the AM? How would they propose to keep the loop antenna aligned to the
best angle of reception for the AM? Would they include whip antennas for the AM?

Will these designs turn off the internal clock (noise generator) for AM reception of analog only signals, or will they
just create so much noise that the AM won't work at all, like in many modern cars?

HD is antithetical to proper AM engineering.
It makes as much sense as a gasoline engine-powered hearing aid.

 

[PhilJSmith67]

What I find ironic is that it's entirely legal to manufacture an AM-only radio with no FM, and there are plenty of devices (such as my Nokia E71) which have FM w/o AM, but Satellite receivers would be required to have HD Radio chips?!? For which band? Would they be allowed to include only FM-HD? Would an analog-fallback be required for HD1 signals, or would the rule only require IBOC reception?

What an absurd idea. What the hell, let's just go nuts and require every device manufactured to include AM/FM analog, AM/FM IBOC, Internet streaming (all formats), Satellite, ATSC/DTV audio, Shortwave w/ DRM, WiMAX, DAB (oh wait no that's foreign), NOAA Weather, plus a display to decode RTTY and Morse Code transmissions. Now it's "fair" for everyone. Geesh.

 

[Tom Wells]

Phil, what about including both Morse AND Continental cw decode? Can't discriminate, y'know....
What about AMTOR, SSTV, etc, etc? Don't forget all the different flavors of AM stereo.....

 

[TheBigA]

What I find ironic is that it's entirely legal to manufacture an AM-only radio with no FM, and there are plenty of devices (such as my Nokia E71) which have FM w/o AM, but Satellite receivers would be required to have HD Radio chips?!?

The AM radio industry is not going to the FCC asking it to merge all the companies owning AM radio stations into one company. If they did, the FCC might make such a suggestion.

This issue here isn't AM & FM, but satellite radio, which is asking for a monopoly, but also wants to exclude competitors from their radios.

 

[KB1OKL]

BigA you completely miss the point, don't you?
Satrad is not AM-FM and AM-FM is not Satrad, they are mutually exclusive and HD is out of the loop entirely. They are different modes and different frequencies. Do you think AM-FM radios should be forced to include the international shortwave bands?

 

[TheBigA]

BigA you completely miss the point, don't you?

No I didn't. You clearly don't understand why the FCC is considering this. It has to do with the XM Sirius merger. That's what's opened the box. They are seeking to create some competition on satellite radios, which currently only receive either XM or Sirius. Personally, I would prefer them to simply require satellite radios to include FM. But that's not the suggestion on the table. You're free to send your comments to the FCC. That's why they opened this inquiry.