Now we've got IBOC whackos (of whom Aaron is one) insisting that we need a needlessly complex and unworkable system (AM-band IBOC) to "save" the AM band and make it sound great (if you don't mind the continual dropouts) but requires receivers that cost a minimum of three times as much as people have demonstrated that they are willing to pay for AM radios that don't drop out three miles from the transmitter (or, in fact, at all).
Dan, and Bob, I'd appreciate you not putting words in my mouth. Especially when earlier in the same page I specifically said that I'm not blind to IBOC's faults, and specifically said in relation to AM IBOC. And doubly especially to you Bob, considering that I have routinely defended your rantings about how CBS Radio and WBZ's IBOC causing interference against WYSL, even though you're right on the line of insisting they have some personal vendetta against the shining truth that must only come from WYSL.
If it'll make you happy, I think AM IBOC is a near-total train wreck.
FM IBOC I'm more sanguine on, and those of you who care to listen to what I've said know that I've long held that FM IBOC will never be a revolutionary technology the way ATSC DTV was. It's an evolutionary technology, which - by definition - is a very gradual process; much like color TV or stereo FM. The problem, of course, is that radio's viability as a medium (digital or analog) may come to an end before that evolution is even close to being finished.
But AM IBOC? Unlike FM IBOC, there are severe downsides to the technology and the upsides are even more questionable than FM's. I'm not a proponent of AM IBOC at all, except to say that as bad as it is, I don't think there's really any better solution out there. Doing nothing is, strictly-speaking, not really an option; AM broadcasting is rapidly becoming totally irrelevant for a majority of the dwindling radio listenership out there. I would not be surprised if the AM band effectively suffers a complete collapse by 2020. Maybe even sooner.
While it's a largely uninformed opinion, anecdotally I think the AM band would be best served by drastic action: eliminate all Class C and D stations, along with about 75% of the Class B's, and using the freed-up spectrum to migrate the remaining Class B's into Class A status. Possibly have a restriction preventing DA patterns for AM. Couple it with a receiver quality mandate and we'd see AM get at least some ground back on FM, as the few remaining AM stations would have better sound and MUCH less interference to deal with. Especially at night. It'd still be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titantic, but it'd be better than trying to use a shotgun and put holes in the hull to let all the water out.
Actually I think the
BMC's plan to migrate every AM station to a new FM digital scheme on TV5 & 6 is utterly brilliant. I wish they'd had the clout to push that as an alternative to IBOC during the NRSC-5 meetings, although both the NAB and the FCC would almost certainly never allowed spectrum reallocation like that; any spectrum reallocation automatically goes to wireless services so they (the FCC, as mandated by Congress) can auction it for a few billion a pop.
Speaking of which, if you think I've drunk the iBiquity KoolAid, then you didn't hear what I typically had to say in private after those NRSC-5 meetings that I was "fortunate" to attend. I'm glad I went to those meetings, but it wasn't good for my blood pressure.
It doesn't matter whether Crutchfield lists 19 HD-AM capable car radios or one hundred. What matters is, how many people are buying and/or using them?
I'd say that's about 95% true. You're right that very few, if any, people are buying HD Radios and that's really what matters. The aftermarket radio scene is all but dead and buried these days; Auto OEM's are making it almost impossible to replace the stock radio with integration of the radio into the HVAC controls, steering wheel controls, GPS navigation, and other data displays. And the fragmented marketing scheme iBiquity embraced has all but guaranteed that we'll never see more than a handful of OEM car radios that come with HD Radio as an add-on, never mind as standard equipment. Companies like XMSirius were, and now Microsoft, Apple and Pandora are, undoubtedly spending a lot of money to keep it that way, too...to promote their own auditory technologies for the auto, ahead of any others.
But don't dismiss it
entirely out of hand...just their mere presence does have a small but noticeable salutatory effect on receiver quality overall. To put it in perspective, if the Microsoft Zune was going to have an HD Radio receiver in it, then the iPod Nano wasn't going to have an FM receiver in it that was anything but equal or better quality. Not HD Radio, of course, but it would be at least as good an
FM tuner for analog as the Zune. Granted, that's all moot just a few years later, but that's the salutatory effect I'm talking about.
Unfortunately, most of this effect went into FM. We're still not seeing AM receivers that can deliver both decent quality of reception AND decent audio fidelity. Oh well.
