RW: All-Digital AM Test On The Way

[KB1OKL]

There is an interesting entry in the DIYMedia blog decrying the secrecy surrounding the scheduled test of all digital HD-AM (actually its a series of three or four tests involving several AM stations).

As the author points out there has been a consistent lack of transparency in the testing of new technology for the radio industry. For HD Radio, as an example, a small but powerful cabal of radio companies tested the system, presented their findings before the FCC and the Commission adopted it without, apparently, any thought as to how this would affect smaller independent stations or the industry as a whole.

To quote:

"As the record shows, this lack of transparency during HD's development poisoned the policymaking environment and trade press. There was massive consternation among independent (i.e., non-iBiquity investor) broadcasters and the public about HD's fundamental viability, not to mention its profound effects on the future potentiality of digital radio broadcasting itself. However, by that point the FCC had already effectively made up its mind on HD by opting out of any active role in the technology's development and plans for rollout."

So the secrecy surrounding the AM station lucky enough to get this all-digital test is just part of a larger, long-standing pattern.

http://www.diymedia.net/

Of course, you don't think the HD monopoly would want opposing opinions about their junk technology getting to the clueless FCC do you?

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Of course, you don't think the HD monopoly would want opposing opinions about their junk technology getting to the clueless FCC do you?

Probably, they have already conducted their test, reached their arms around in an awkward positions, patted themselves on the back for a job well done, and will publish glowing results soon.

If this type of deceptive testing was used on new drugs for human consumption - the perpetrators would get arrested.

 

[JohnnyElectron]

Instead of fighting people, they should INVITE people to help them participate in the testings. Heck, Motorola actually mailed me CQUAM chips and schematics to make my own AM stereo decoder back in 1983 to help PROMOTE their new technology. iBquity should do the same - invite people to participate and get excited about their technology - tell us when the all-digital tests will be. Run an all digital test at night on a clear channel 50KW station playing stereo music and see how far away the stereo signal goes using a full 50KW in digital mode - now that would be exciting. Don't hide it - unless it's really that bad - let engineers and hobbists enjoy the test too.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Don't hide it - unless it's really that bad - let engineers and hobbists enjoy the test too.

It really is that bad. And they know it - that is why the secrecy.

 

[KB1OKL]

Don't hide it - unless it's really that bad - let engineers and hobbists enjoy the test too.

It really is that bad. And they know it - that is why the secrecy.

You took the words right out of my mouth er.. fingers.

 

[mgpt6]

One of the tests SHOULD be done on a 50kW AM during the Midnight to 6AM hours.

 

[ajc_trw]

One of the tests SHOULD be done on a 50kW AM during the Midnight to 6AM hours.

I'd like to nominate KFI 640 Los Angeles based on their scheduled programming. If you're a regular listener you'd believe the future of radio is iBiquity HD Radio.

 

[satech]

1500 WTOP (now WFED) in Washington, DC did some overnight digital-only IBOC tests a decade ago, when iBiquity was seeking FCC approval for nighttime AM IBOC use. I believe the test results showed the digital signal only covered about a 15 mile radius at night before dropping out!

 

[Tom Wells]

1500 WTOP (now WFED) in Washington, DC did some overnight digital-only IBOC tests a decade ago, when iBiquity was seeking FCC approval for nighttime AM IBOC use. I believe the test results showed the digital signal only covered about a 15 mile radius at night before dropping out!

Wow! In the new ibiquity paradigm, there can be a whole lot more stations added.
Market penetration can be controlled so much better, and it will become easy to have local micro-formatted radio to each
little region. There will be so many more radio jobs when every radio stattion only has a short reach!
This is very exciting. I could be listening to one station on an AM frequency at home and have a different choice on the same frequency
at work 20 miles away.

I'd think a 15 mile range is something the NAB has been working for years. More pie for everyone!
Why would anyone want wide area coverage? Nobody ever needs to know what's going on in another region.

I bet I can invent a digital radio mode that only works 15 feet!

Top THAT, ibiquity.

 

[cd637299]

^ We have a (thread) winner here......!!

cd

 

[MarioMania]

So..

What station did the AM Digital Only test??

Did they do it already??

 

[Ai4i]

I bet I can invent a digital radio mode that only works 15 feet!

Even less when the skywaves roll in at night.

 

[Savage]

We already have this. It's called "HD Radio."

 

[arnoldevns]

A full digital test on AM might be useful to prove or disprove once and for all the assorted positives and negatives of digital on AM. However, it seems unlikely that it will prove to be a viable option.

AM should embrace streaming and smart phone apps. They work a lot better than HD radio.

 

[Casey]

A full digital test on AM might be useful to prove or disprove once and for all the assorted positives and negatives of digital on AM. However, it seems unlikely that it will prove to be a viable option.

AM should embrace streaming and smart phone apps. They work a lot better than HD radio.

Most stations have embraced streaming. But the problem with streaming is that it is saturated with stations and has an increasingly cloudy future due to licensing.

All digital will probably confirm what we already know. I doubt there will be any surprise results. The question that will come up is whether it is good-enough to continue to push digital AM or whether it should be put to rest. My guess is that it won't matter how it performs, the results they release will come out in favor of HD radio. Investors and partners will lose even more faith in the platform if they don't.

 

[satech]

AM HD is a dead-end anyway, because except for car radios, nearly all the HD Radios that you can actually buy today are FM-only.

 

[Savage]

Yeahhhh. And where is THIS latest self-defeating HD goofiness heading??

Let's see: WFED, Washington - $100 mil+ annual revenues. WFAN NYC - last I checked about $50 mil. WBZ. KYW. WOAI. And so forth.

Are these huge AM signals going to be switched over to all-digital, where utterly nobody will hear them and all that revenue - POOF! - gone, just like that? Somehow I think cooler heads will prevail, and I don't mean HD proponents. I mean the real decision-makers in those companies desperate to retain revenue in a bad economy.

I've heard the conspiracy theories about how CC, CBS, GM et al are pushing all-digital AM to "thin the herd" and get rid of operators like me who can't afford HD, even if we wanted it, which we don't. To what end? To get the AM dial less cluttered for the benefit of a nonexistent all-digital audience? If all-digital AM were mandated and every single mom-and-pop AM went off the air tomorrow, and the big guys grabbed 100% of the former stations' revenue, it would contribute a negligible amount to their bottom lines. I'd bet less than 1%.

All-digital AM would simply kill what's left of the band, even if HD worked, which it won't. There's no financial win for HD investors. What's the point of this? It's got to be a hail-Mary attempt to assauge HD inventors' egos.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Let's see: WFED, Washington - $100 mil+ annual revenues. WFAN NYC - last I checked about $50 mil. WBZ. KYW. WOAI. And so forth.

WOAI has abandoned the HD nuttiness. They have their huge coverage area back. The are static free in Houston, and you can bet they have a substantial audience in nearby Austin. When they were in HD, they were weak even in Austin. Now they peel paint. Coverage = ratings. Plain and simple. Even if that means penetrating buildings and overcoming power line noise in San Antonio, getting rid of HD helped.

 

[davideduardo]

Let's see: WFED, Washington - $100 mil+ annual revenues. WFAN NYC - last I checked about $50 mil. WBZ. KYW. WOAI. And so forth.

WFED billings for 2011, $3.4 million. Sister WTOP, $64 million.
WFAN, which is moving to FM, $40 million.

The top AM billers, in millions, are
WTOP
KFI $48
WBBM $48
WCBS $47
WINS $42

Other AMs with billing over $20 million are WFAN, WGN, WCBS, WBZ, KCBS, WSB, KYW, WEEI, WBAP, KNBR and KOA.

14 if the top 50 billers are AM.

All-digital AM would simply kill what's left of the band, even if HD worked, which it won't. There's no financial win for HD investors. What's the point of this? It's got to be a hail-Mary attempt to assauge HD inventors' egos.

Nobody buys "radios" today; they buy multipurpose devices that have radios in them. So thinking that people would replace existing radios with all digital AM capable radios is absurd.

 

[Savage]

I stand corrected, David. I had assumed WTOP 1500AM had changed callsigns to WFED. That's the station I was referring to.