Radio Then and Now:

[rbrucecarter5]

Then:

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2012/01/18/technology-then-and-now/?intcmp=features#slide=4

Now:

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2012/01/18/technology-then-and-now/?intcmp=features#slide=5

If the HD radio advocates had been successful, there might have been an HD radio pictured on "now" instead of an internet radio. Instead, the HD radio photgraph was consigned to the "biggest flops of all time" story.

 

[ajc_trw]

Slide 5 (future radio) could have easily been a picture of the iPhone as I use mine for internet radio listening quite a bit. With its WiFi capability listening to out of range stations (KROQ for example here in Menifee) is quite easy and FREE!

 

[tomservo]

I learned the hard way this evening that good old terrestrial radio is still the most reliable way to listen to music. First, my home internet went out. Then about the time I got on my phone to use its 3G internet to stream something, it went out. :

So I just flipped on the radio.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

I'll have to agree with you about good-ol' terrestrial radio ... ESPECIALLY if it's below 30 MHz. How else, besides AM BCB or longwave, can you have one land-based transmitter (satellites are $$$$$!! as I understand it) cover a several hundred or thousand mile radius? Also isn't AM a lot more spectrally efficient than, say, FM? IIRC an AM Stereo signal that has a 15 kHz audio response would only require 30 kHz of RF bandwidth (don't know if it's possible to do stereo in SSB), but an FM signal is more like 200 kHz wide.

And with all this hooplah about SOPA (my opinion on it cannot be printed here ) I was thinking of what I might do if I owned some stations and was going to protest something like that. One idea I had was to shut off the HD exciters (especially if a law was passed, if it doesn't already exist, requiring there to be a way to prevent recording off-air from an HD broadcast -- well actually I wouldn't be running HD in the first place), turn on the C-Quam exciters (actually they'd already be running), and change the way music is played on my stations (and maybe even convert a 50kW news/talk station or two to music). DJs would not be allowed to talk over any parts of the songs, songs could not run together or overlap with each other or with commercials (at least one to two seconds of dead air / unmodulated carrier would be required before/after each song), and songs would be played in their entirety straight off the CD / itunes download / whatever. In the event that a song needed to have something censored, I would censor it by using an audio editor's "reverse" function on the cuss word, and mixing a 10.15 kHz tone (at full modulation) with it. Also songs would be announced at least a few minutes BEFORE they're aired, to give fans time to get their analog recorders ready. I might even be prepared to receive a NOV for excessive-bandwidth emissions (for broadcasting unrestricted audio out to 20 kHz for example).

Or am I the only one that actually likes to hear current music on the AM band, including from transmitters hundreds of miles away, and wishes that Radio Disney wasn't the only network that plays current hits??

 

[K6JHU]

Below 30 MHz, don't forget DRM.

 

[JohnnyElectron]

Pianoplayer: you and I are 'in tune' with each other, brother.
When you and I win the lottery, I would love nothing more than to have a half dozen 50KW flamethrowers with stereo (CQUAM) music formats, and even get our friend down at WSM to flip his CQuam back on for stereo Saturday Nights at the Grand Ole Opry. We also have to get Sony and friends onboard with making AMAX quality AM radios again with DSP noise blanking, etc.

Radio works when all else fails. A 9v battery transistor radio lasts a long time, or a portable that runs on a couple AA cells - a whole lot longer than any rechargeable HD radio/cellphone/Internet radio.

Also, my internet radio is become more and more usless since Clear Channel (and now others) are jumping on the "iHeart Radio" bandwagon, and Logitech Squeezebox radio does NOT support iHeart Radio.

Content is king, and even Radio Disney proved that with minivans tuned to RD on AM stations. Now we have to 'retrain' the masses to listen to good music on AM - and get the manufacturers to make AMAX quality tuners as well. Some of the HD radios do decode CQuam, but the bandwidth is chopped to 'avoid the noid' above 6Khz. Having a variable 7.5KHz - 10KHz high end auto-bandwidth would be sweet - just ask Uncle Leonard Kahn!

 

[KeithE4]

Pianoplayer: you and I are 'in tune' with each other, brother.
When you and I win the lottery, I would love nothing more than to have a half dozen 50KW flamethrowers with stereo (CQUAM) music formats, and even get our friend down at WSM to flip his CQuam back on for stereo Saturday Nights at the Grand Ole Opry.

What would you program that would bring listeners, and as a result, advertisers on-board? Music has been dead on AM for 30 years. Nobody likes to lose money, and you'd be broke in a year.

We also have to get Sony and friends onboard with making AMAX quality AM radios again with DSP noise blanking, etc.

No market, no design. AM listening is down to about 20% (at best), and most of that is sports, all-news (both of which are moving to FM in droves), geezer-talk, non-Spanish-language ethnic broadcasters, and paid religion. There is no reason whatsoever to design high-quality AM tuners. Nobody other than hobbyists will buy them.

Radio works when all else fails. A 9v battery transistor radio lasts a long time, or a portable that runs on a couple AA cells - a whole lot longer than any rechargeable HD radio/cellphone/Internet radio.

Very true, to a point. When was the last time an AM-only radio was marketed? If anyone is carrying a portable radio, it has AM and FM and the former is rarely used outside of the largest markets with 50 kw stations.

Also, my internet radio is become more and more usless since Clear Channel (and now others) are jumping on the "iHeart Radio" bandwagon, and Logitech Squeezebox radio does NOT support iHeart Radio.

It's in Clear Channel's and CBS's interest to have their apps on all internet radios, smartphones, etc., along with TuneIn & Pandora. If they're not on a particular device now, it's their own fault. This will change in the future, I guarantee it.

Content is king, and even Radio Disney proved that with minivans tuned to RD on AM stations.

Which is why Disney is selling and/or turning off some of their AM transmitters. :

Now we have to 'retrain' the masses to listen to good music on AM - and get the manufacturers to make AMAX quality tuners as well. Some of the HD radios do decode CQuam, but the bandwidth is chopped to 'avoid the noid' above 6Khz. Having a variable 7.5KHz - 10KHz high end auto-bandwidth would be sweet - just ask Uncle Leonard Kahn!

File this under "T'ain't happnin'." That horse left the barn in 1980. Quit living in the past.

 

[KeithE4]

Then:

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2012/01/18/technology-then-and-now/?intcmp=features#slide=4

Now:

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2012/01/18/technology-then-and-now/?intcmp=features#slide=5

If the HD radio advocates had been successful, there might have been an HD radio pictured on "now" instead of an internet radio. Instead, the HD radio photgraph was consigned to the "biggest flops of all time" story.

If you want a combination of the two, look at this vintage-looking internet radio from Grace Digital. iHeartRadio, CBS Radio.com, SiriusXM, Pandora, and Live365 are included.

 

[KeithE4]

Below 30 MHz, don't forget DRM.

Shortwave broadcasting is quickly dying in the Western Hemisphere, outside of American religious hucksters, Cuba, and a few others. DRM won't save it.

 

[TheBigA]

If the HD radio advocates had been successful, there might have been an HD radio pictured on "now" instead of an internet radio.

Just to be clear, internet table radios aren't exactly flying off the shelves. In fact, they are tied with HD radios for poorest sellers.

What makes internet radio successful isn't the devices, but the ability to hear it on devices people already own. Like a phone or computer.

 

[Play Freebird]

I learned the hard way this evening that good old terrestrial radio is still the most reliable way to listen to music. First, my home internet went out. Then about the time I got on my phone to use its 3G internet to stream something, it went out. :

So I just flipped on the radio.

Public interest, convenience, and necessity are the reasons we hold broadcast licenses -- and if we succeed in providing all three, we attract an audience that can be sold to advertisers.

If HD radio actually improved convenience (and offered more interesting and necessary content than other media) its growth would have taken off years ago.

 

[TheBigA]

If HD radio actually improved convenience (and offered more interesting and necessary content than other media) its growth would have taken off years ago.

Content isn't the same thing as convenience, and every day, the public proves that it is willing to miss interesting and necessary content, especially if they have to pay for it. Radio-Info is filled with people who say they've stopped paying for cable.

But you're right about convenience. If HD radio was available on devices we already owned, it would be a success.

If a radio station had more interesting and necessary content, it wouldn't put it on HD radio, because no one owns the devices. So they put their best stuff where people can hear it.

 

[Savage]

"If HD Radio was available on devices we already owned, it would be a success?"

No, it wouldn't. It doesn't work well enough. When HD Radio IS available on "devices already owned," as in car radio systems, it's generally utilized just long enough for the uninformed to figure out why their radios perform like crap. As soon as they do, the vehicle goes back to the dealer for help in turning off the HD function.

And why don't people bother to "own" HD Radio? See, above. (It doesn't work. And it doesn't offer meaningful benefit. And even today, by marketplace standards, available HD Radios are absurdly expensive. And rarer than fundamentalist Christians at an Oscars party. And. And. And.....) :

 

[rbrucecarter5]

And rarer than fundamentalist Christians at an Oscars party. And. And. And.....) :

Uh - check your facts. A lot of the people my daughter works with in Hollywood are some of the strongest Christians you will ever meet. Some of them have to be really careful who they express their beliefs to, or they will not be considered for roles. In some cases, though, family themed networks seek out Christians on purpose.

 

[TheBigA]

In some cases, though, family themed networks seek out Christians on purpose.

It's against hiring laws.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

In some cases, though, family themed networks seek out Christians on purpose.

It's against hiring laws.

Nobody asks, but a person's reputation can be ascertained from their social networking habits. And there are no affirmative action laws covering casting. All the tokenism you see is strictly voluntary, probably to keep the govt. out of it.

 

[tomservo]

What would you program that would bring listeners, and as a result, advertisers on-board? Music has been dead on AM for 30 years. Nobody likes to lose money, and you'd be broke in a year.

Music still lives on AM, it's just not what we would consider the traditional moneymaking formats these days: gospel, Spanish language stuff, real oldies, bluegrass, things that can't support an FM signal in a competitive market.

I imagine if you had an isolated community near East Nowhere that had ZERO FM reception, the people WOULD listen to CHR or modern country or rap on AM because it would be the only convenient choice. But where FM offers a choice, AM always loses out. And today that's 99% of the country.

It's in Clear Channel's and CBS's interest to have their apps on all internet radios, smartphones, etc., along with TuneIn & Pandora. If they're not on a particular device now, it's their own fault. This will change in the future, I guarantee it.

I don't. I know how pig headed old world content providers can be.

You're going to listen online? Fine, but you have to listen our way, with our app. No more of this "tuning in with any old third party radio or app" stuff.

CBS' app sucks. It's buggy, the sound quality is sub-AM and when you ONLY have CBS stations to choose from you realize how little content they offer. iHeartRadio is better only because Clear Channel owns the world but it's still a standalone app that is inconvenient to use.

Before they both went into stream-lockdown, TuneIn Radio was a wonderland of audio, with CBS, Clear Channel and everyone else competing on equal footing. Now TuneIn has a fraction of the content it did in the US. But it still has every imaginable genre from here and the rest of the world, so I use and to hell with the other apps.

As far as the old guard is concerned, that their streams were available on any app was merely a procedural oversight that has now been taken care of. I doubt they'll open the streams up to third parties ever again.

 

[mmnassour]

As far as the old guard is concerned, that their streams were available on any app was merely a procedural oversight that has now been taken care of. I doubt they'll open the streams up to third parties ever again.

And for that reason, they have absolutely no place on my Android phone. Old Guard, indeed. Even without them, there is indeed more on Tunein than anyone could possibly listen to.

 

[KeithE4]

What would you program that would bring listeners, and as a result, advertisers on-board? Music has been dead on AM for 30 years. Nobody likes to lose money, and you'd be broke in a year.

Music still lives on AM, it's just not what we would consider the traditional moneymaking formats these days: gospel, Spanish language stuff, real oldies, bluegrass, things that can't support an FM signal in a competitive market.

Yes, but as you said, these are not commercially-viable formats, except for the "Spanish-language stuff," the best of which moved to FM years ago.

I imagine if you had an isolated community near East Nowhere that had ZERO FM reception, the people WOULD listen to CHR or modern country or rap on AM because it would be the only convenient choice. But where FM offers a choice, AM always loses out. And today that's 99% of the country.

It's been 99% of the country for a good 30 years, if not longer.

It's in Clear Channel's and CBS's interest to have their apps on all internet radios, smartphones, etc., along with TuneIn & Pandora. If they're not on a particular device now, it's their own fault. This will change in the future, I guarantee it.

I don't. I know how pig headed old world content providers can be.

CC is branding their stations as "An iHeartRadio station." CBS has come a long way since the completely out of touch Mel Karmazin banned streaming. Neither company can be called "pig headed" anymore.

You're going to listen online? Fine, but you have to listen our way, with our app. No more of this "tuning in with any old third party radio or app" stuff.

CBS' app sucks. It's buggy, the sound quality is sub-AM and when you ONLY have CBS stations to choose from you realize how little content they offer. iHeartRadio is better only because Clear Channel owns the world but it's still a standalone app that is inconvenient to use.

Yes, the CBS Radio app sucks. So do iHeartRadio and TuneIn. All have connection and buffering issues, but some of this has to do with the limited memory of smartphones and handoffs between cell sites, as well as poorly-designed apps. I have no audio-quality issues with any of them, when pumped into my car FM transmitter.

Before they both went into stream-lockdown, TuneIn Radio was a wonderland of audio, with CBS, Clear Channel and everyone else competing on equal footing. Now TuneIn has a fraction of the content it did in the US. But it still has every imaginable genre from here and the rest of the world, so I use and to hell with the other apps.

As far as the old guard is concerned, that their streams were available on any app was merely a procedural oversight that has now been taken care of. I doubt they'll open the streams up to third parties ever again.

It may not matter. Newer devices, such as the GraceDigital radios, combine them all anyway. CC and CBS thwart this at their own peril. As I said, they want and need to be on these devices. Switching between apps on a smartphone will hopefully get easier in the future as well, maybe with some kind of a "wrapper" app. The TuneIn website does this, calling each company's player when a CBS or CC station is selected (they're not banned from the website).

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

In some cases, though, family themed networks seek out Christians on purpose.

It's against hiring laws.

Stations owned by religious groups are permitted to discriminate in favor of their co-religionists in hiring, and have been for almost a decade.