Quest to Save AM Radio (NYT)

[wadio]

An article in Sunday's New York Times talks about measures proposed by one FCC commissioner to help keep AM radio listenable through the static:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/us/a-quest-to-save-am-radio-before-its-lost-in-the-static.html

My belief is that AM is prehistoric technology and as soon as its replacement comes along (likely some form or digital wireless we haven't seen yet) the paradigm shift will be immediate and swift. AM Radio will then die a natural death regardless of anything the FCC can do, but not until then. Interestingly I'll bet AM will be first to migrate (out of desperation) -- FM will follow.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Yes, in an emergency AM radio is the best source. That's why I'm launching a campaign to bring back CONELRAD.

 

[wadio]

Or at least bring back the jingle. "640, 1240 CONELRAD." Very catchy and it sounds best on AM radio.

 

[raccoonradio]

What about the EAS system which kicks in for announcements etc.? I'm actually on a college FM in MA but if there's a bad storm it will kick in to provide some info (we also have been known to go on during storms and provide local coverage and info...I was on during Hurricanes Irene and Sandy...on a fairly low powered FM which still reached at least part of the population.

 

[TheBigA]

Michael Copps proved that when only one FCC Commissioner has a cause, and he doesn't build consensus among the other four Commissioners, nothing ever gets done. I expect the same thing here.

 

[collegeDJ86]

One thing I rarely see mentioned about "reviving" the AM band is turning over at least part of it to hobby broadcasters. What would happen, especially in smaller communities, when you take something like 10-15 frequencies and let anyone broadcast on it (provided they don't interfere with licensed stations)? Think of the community groups, schools, etc. that could use those frequencies for niche programming. If only a few people listen to it anyway, why not make it a specific group?

Besides, it can't be too expensive to take the idea of the Talking House transmitters, give them a little more beef, and hook it in to a relatively inexpensive outdoor antenna. The expense and the difficulty in part lies with the licensing process.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

As bad as some stations are today, think with me what the broadcast industry would think of your proposal.

When it comes to viable stations now operating in a traditional way and doing it well, the people who own them would see your proposal as opening up the airwaves to a lot of sub-standard non-professional operations, and planting in the mind of the American public the idea that a radio station is something as cheap and disposable as party favors you would buy at Party City to pass out at a party for the birthday of your 10 year old child.

The industry operates a fleet of radio stations valued in the Billions of dollars.... and they will do everything they can to keep a proposal like yours from happening. Look at the gried dished out trying to keep LPFM from being established and now from being expanded.

 

[TheBigA]

One thing I rarely see mentioned about "reviving" the AM band is turning over at least part of it to hobby broadcasters.

You're going to find this amusing, but a lot of the "hobby broadcasters" that you talk about, those schools and community groups, don't want to be on AM. That's been the motivation behind LPFM. We've discussed on other boards about the advantage of a 1K AM frequency to a 100 watt FM station. Yet most of the community broadcasters prefer FM, because of the "neighborhood." They feel they're more likely to be heard on FM than AM. The "hobby broadcasters" who would like to take over AM are the Part 15 types. But they're not doing the kin d of "community" programming that you're talking about. In any case, the FCC isn't likely to just give away spectrum, when their current system is built around selling it. Hobbyists don't have the cash to buy or pay for AM spectrum, and the government isn't going to give it to them. They'd rather give it to minorities, and solve one of their main missions.

 

[PhoenixPark]

Am responsible for the lowest-powered legal AM there is - a 10-watt Travellers Info Station that covers our town and beyond - a lifesaver during Sandy - 24-hour announcements on a continuous loop that provided info on where trees were down and where police were on point duty, where to find charging and heating centres as well as free community dinners along with emergency phone nos. that worked! It was kept on the air by a single Honda generator filled on a round-robin basis by the Police, Fire and DPW crews. We saved lives with the 10-watt "flamethrower" - targeted info for our town - no fatalities or major injuries during Sandy. I am the Borough Clerk - 50 years' broadcasting experience and (what used to be) an FCC First Class Radiotelephone licensee (still). Really, a very meaningful and useful purpose for the AM band! Call it 21st century Conelrad - could teach FEMA a thing or three!

 

[Richard Lewis]

One of the things the FCC commissioner wants is more HD radio on AM. How much more IBOC do we need

 

[MC]

In the 50s, when people started to drive home to the suburbs listening to the radio, and turn on the TV, the evening newspapers in many parts of the country suffered. The TV news went to a 1/2 hour about 50 years ago in 1963. Interesting it was the conservative head of the Hearst Newspapers who pushed the "Newspaper Preservation Act" to Richard Nixon 1970. President Johnson would not sign it (of course his wife owned radio stations) but Nixon did because he thought the Newspapers where more favorable to Republicans than the TV news people, Huntley Brinkley, Cronkite, etc. Now you have this guy, a Republican, butting into the marketplace trying to "save AM." There are still analog TV stations for example, most seem to be religious stations. I wonder if AM is more of a rural persons radio station, or a poor persons choice? Even though the guy claims not to be politically motivated it seems that his focus benefits his political leanings.

It is also interesting that some of the airport information stations are AM, because the signals would not be as good in parking garages as FM.

 

[George Jetson]

So Ibiquity makes a political donation and gets a big payoff because they hold the copyrights to the IBOC chip for digital radio. Again, the FCC acting AGAINST the public interest and in favor of the Fat Cats. Notice they mention emergency broadcasting, the fact is that a digital radio reciever uses more power than the analog reciever so in an emergency the analog reciever will run longer on batteries. Also the cost of the digital radio is higher, not only because it's digital but because of the royalty payment to Ibiqity, same with the radio stations that would be FORCED to change over. Also there would be issues with fringe areas as well as static disrupting the digital signals. With analog maybe you can hear some static but with digital the static stops and re-sets the audio stream. You could argue that a strong digital signal would still get through but the same would be for analog, perhaps not as well but a FAINT analog signal can still be heared inside the static. I know IBOC sounds better but AM wasn't sounding so bad back before the FCC cut back on the allowed bandwidth. Another thing to remember, in a read bad emergency you won't be able to construct a home made digital reciever out of spare parts and junk. Analog recievers, however, besides being easy to biuld can also be self powered, using the radio energy from the antenna to drive the earphone. Try doing that with digital. I don't know any people that puchased a digital converter for their TV or even a TV with digital tuner, now they just buy a LCD display and plug it into a dish or cable box. AM listerners will probably abandon digital all together and instead listen on computer or mobile device with internet capability. Aside from a few engineers, I don't know anyone that has an IBOC HD radio reciever either. Just imagine the pressure at the Ibiquity stock holders meeting. Sort of reminds me of all those former Monsanto execs now working for the FDA pushing GMO foods.

 

[wadio]

"The paragraph is your friend."

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

One of the things the FCC commissioner wants is more HD radio on AM. How much more IBOC do we need

IBOC is part of the all the noise that needs to be eliminated if AM is to have any chance at all. The FCC's refusal to enforce Part 15 regulations is made much worse by having IBOC polluting the band. If Commissioner Pai is really serious about mounting a rescue mission for AM, he should start by looking no further than his own agency's Enforcement Bureau. Get them off their duffs and get serious about Part 15 violations...and while he's at it, wring the neck of this IBOC turkey once and for all.

 

[TheBigA]

I know IBOC sounds better but AM wasn't sounding so bad back before the FCC cut back on the allowed bandwidth.

A lot of things have contributed to the sound of AM today, not just IBOC or the reduced bandwidth. But the fact is that AM never sounded as good as FM, as Edwin Armstrong noted.

I idea that Ibiquity has bribed the FCC is one of those unproven conspiracy theories. If you look at the company's finances, they don't have enough money to bribe anyone. They're hundreds of millions in debt. The FCC still hasn't mandated IBOC, and if Ibiquity bribed anyone, it should have been station owners. Their money would be better spent cutting their own royalty costs. A five year moratorium on royalties would give the public and the industry a real chance to try it.

 

[TheBigA]

If Commissioner Pai is really serious about mounting a rescue mission for AM, he should start by looking no further than his own agency's Enforcement Bureau.

As Michael Copps discovered, one commissioner doesn't have the power to do anything. He has to build consensus among the other commissioners. One way to do that is through public opinion. But it's hard to get the public passionate about saving AM radio. So this campaign will go nowhere.

 

[JaneChristo]

IBOC is part of the all the noise that needs to be eliminated if AM is to have any chance at all. ...and while he's at it, wring the neck of this IBOC turkey once and for all.

IBOC on AM won't go away until/unless there is some other digital initiative to replace it.

The FCC follows the efforts of the NAB's lobbying. The NAB follows the interest of broadcasters.

Broadcasters follow the listeners. Thinking of major broadcasters is that AM needs a digital component.

And, like it or not...HD was what was chosen.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

IBOC on AM won't go away until/unless there is some other digital initiative to replace it.

The FCC follows the efforts of the NAB's lobbying. The NAB follows the interest of broadcasters.

Broadcasters follow the listeners. Thinking of major broadcasters is that AM needs a digital component.

And, like it or not...HD was what was chosen.

AM *must* be digital??? That's the biggest pile of horse hockey I've ever heard in my life. AM sounded just fine before the FCC got their hands on it...and stopped enforcing the regulations on interference from consumer devices. If "digital" is their answer, they have really lost all touch with reality.

Before IBOC came on the market, there was NO...ZERO...NADA demand for digital radio, from either broadcasters or listeners, and what all too many don't seem to understand is that there's still effectively no demand for it. A relatively small number of broadcasters have launched digital operations, and the demand from listeners just plain isn't there. The word "digital" has lost all context and become just another marketing buzz word, taking in some broadcasters and some receiver manufacturers and leading them around by the nose. It's not an improvement, mostly because it causes interference to other stations and uses a horrible codec on AM and doesn't sound measurably better than analog on FM. It costs broadcasters thousands of dollars per station to build and pay for, and hasn't even come close to a measurable ROI over digital radio's approximately ten-year history.

And as for the NAB, if you think they still care about radio (other than putting on conventions/shows twice a year) you haven't been paying attention. NAB's efforts are currently focused almost exclusively on TV.

 

[TheBigA]

AM sounded just fine before the FCC got their hands on it...and stopped enforcing the regulations on interference from consumer devices.

"Just fine" doesn't cut it. Major Armstrong was alive before the FCC "ruined" AM, and his studies show pretty conclusively that FM sounds better than AM. AM sounded fine before we had FM to compare it to.

But the real problem isn't that AM sounds worse than FM. The real problem is the PERCEPTION. You can't change perception, and right now, people think AM is dead. So there's nothing the FCC is going to do that can resuscitate AM,

 

[semoochie]

"There are still analog TV stations for example, most seem to be religious stations." There are analog translators and low power TV stations but it's only because they haven't transitioned yet. They weren't even allowed to apply until the full power stations were taken care of.