We FINALLY got an “HD” radio in the office - WE were unimpressed...

[hipporadio]

Well... It FINALLY happened... A Polk “HD’ radio showed up in the offices of The Firm that subscribes to the axiom: “There is NO market for HD radio”... We decided to be “neutral” [for a day] and just listen to the damn thing... HD-2 – COMPLETELY UN-compelling... NO reason to spend $200 on a receiver to listen [INFACT and hence, “HD radio is ANYTHING-but-FREE”]... HD-1 [primary] audio quality – obviously “dumb[ed] down” to match the pathetic results of the overpriced and over-depended-upon Omnia and Orban digital audio procs that are routinely-abused by the wannabe-but-corporately-employed twenty-something “PDs” in corporate radio – whose ONLY audio reference is a post-2000 mp-3 file! It is obvious that these “cheap ‘n hairless hires” have NO earthly idea what constitutes good transmitted audio! Have they ever owned a McIntosh or played a premium-press 33-rpm vinyl disk via a Shure V-15 – I DOUBT IT! It seems the cadre that CAN’T get analog right, have now moved along to digital.

WHY extol the “advantages” of digital, when you are falling so-woefully short of the state of the art in the analog era? Bob-O has come “out” to denounce analog as “no-longer competitive” [for OBVIOUS reasons related to the sale of his HD Optimod]. I have to chuckle, Bob-O FINALLY concedes that the required 75us pre-emphasis makes "good quality audio impractical on FM" – after DECADES of selling multiple reincarnations of the FM Optimod!... INTERESTING, that given only MINOR mods in his heritage Opimod 8100 design yielded AUDIOPHILE results on THREE of my FM stations. FACT: ANALOG audio quality on the typical well-engineered FM was BETTER in 1995 then it is today - By a LONG-SHOT! Now, the “pom-pom girls” of HD radio are asking us to embrace the current dumbed-down analog audio in digital as AN ENHANCEMENT.... YEA, RIGHT!

 

[Tom Wells]

Thank you for that highly articulate outburst, hipporadio.

It is obvious that these “cheap ‘n hairless hires” have NO earthly idea what constitutes good transmitted audio! Have they ever owned a McIntosh or played a premium-press 33-rpm vinyl disk via a Shure V-15 – I DOUBT IT!

It seems the cadre that CAN’T get analog right, have now moved along to digital.

WHY extol the “advantages” of digital, when you are falling so-woefully short of the state of the art in the analog era.

Now, the “pom-pom girls” of HD radio are asking us to embrace the current dumbed-down analog audio in digital as AN ENHANCEMENT.... YEA, RIGHT!

Amen.

Again I quote D. E. Wiggins. " Digital is there for guys who can't make analog work." (1981-2 ish) @ Valpo Tech.

 

[4dude]

HD radio OVER THE AIR is garbage (AM/FM) and should be done away with..

End of story

 

[hipporadio]

THANK-YOU, Tom... That means a lot, sir! There is a market [maybe real close] where I have sauntered into a transmitter shack ‘n dialed in my preference on a nice stack of analog gear, and produced competitive modulation AND AUDIO QUALITY [in 2007]... I believe by the mid-90s that was something “deliverable”. NO-DOUBT, FM quality maxed-out in the mid 90s... HD TODAY depends on a REDUCTION of that reality AND FOLKS THAT READ THIS CRAP... THEN, these so-called “engineers” merely placed a P.O. for a “Digital Opimod” and IBOC ‘puter ‘n hoped that the public would “say hey”—NOT happening!

AUDIO quality IS GONE from FM – HD or not! It simply IS NOT a priority of the corporate radio types - who have LOST FIFTY-PERCENT of there stock value in the last year!

OK, that’s “relative”, but in the “HD Digital Quality” world, IS IT reality? ...i HOPE not!

 

[R.F. Burns]

HD radio OVER THE AIR is garbage (AM/FM) and should be done away with..

End of story

Do you own a HD radio? Why would you make such a statement?

 

[LinoNYC]

Well... It FINALLY happened... A Polk “HD’ radio showed up in the offices of The Firm that subscribes to the axiom: “There is NO market for HD radio”... We decided to be “neutral” [for a day] and just listen to the damn thing... HD-2 – COMPLETELY UN-compelling... NO reason to spend $200 on a receiver to listen [INFACT and hence, “HD radio is ANYTHING-but-FREE”]... HD-1 [primary] audio quality – obviously “dumb[ed] down” to match the pathetic results of the overpriced and over-depended-upon Omnia and Orban digital audio procs that are routinely-abused by the wannabe-but-corporately-employed twenty-something “PDs” in corporate radio – whose ONLY audio reference is a post-2000 mp-3 file! It is obvious that these “cheap ‘n hairless hires” have NO earthly idea what constitutes good transmitted audio! Have they ever owned a McIntosh or played a premium-press 33-rpm vinyl disk via a Shure V-15 – I DOUBT IT! It seems the cadre that CAN’T get analog right, have now moved along to digital.

WHY extol the “advantages” of digital, when you are falling so-woefully short of the state of the art in the analog era? Bob-O has come “out” to denounce analog as “no-longer competitive” [for OBVIOUS reasons related to the sale of his HD Optimod]. I have to chuckle, Bob-O FINALLY concedes that the required 75us pre-emphasis makes "good quality audio impractical on FM" – after DECADES of selling multiple reincarnations of the FM Optimod!... INTERESTING, that given only MINOR mods in his heritage Opimod 8100 design yielded AUDIOPHILE results on THREE of my FM stations. FACT: ANALOG audio quality on the typical well-engineered FM was BETTER in 1995 then it is today - By a LONG-SHOT! Now, the “pom-pom girls” of HD radio are asking us to embrace the current dumbed-down analog audio in digital as AN ENHANCEMENT.... YEA, RIGHT!

Question: A totally unbaised assessment ,, or another gaseous emmission?

For sport let's examine:

to match the pathetic results of the overpriced and over-depended-upon Omnia and Orban digital audio procs that are routinely-abused by the wannabe-but-corporately-employed twenty-something “PDs” in corporate radio – whose ONLY audio reference is a post-2000 mp-3 file

The issue greatly predates the creations of Foti and Orban.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/pj0qbf

The above links to a 3mb clip I recorded from New York's WXLO in Dec 1974 of Elton John's Lucy In The Sky.

Aside from the grainy-ness of an underbiased reel of tape, you can get an idea of how flatline the dynamics were in NY radio back then. When program material showed any decline, the processors brought up cart hiss of turntable rumble to fill the "void".

This particular chain was probably RKO-General's New York version of the (in)famous Kanner Box, but it was hardly singular, WPIX-fm had stacked AUdimax's WPLJ had some eight of Dorrough's multiband units specially tweaked and cascaded at the tx on the ESB.

I have to chuckle, Bob-O FINALLY concedes that the required 75us pre-emphasis makes "good quality audio impractical on FM" – after DECADES of selling multiple reincarnations of the FM Optimod!

-To people such as yourself and your bosses who demand every last db from a carrier.

FACT: ANALOG audio quality on the typical well-engineered FM was BETTER in 1995 then it is today - By a LONG-SHOT!

Where?..not here in market #1 crunching distortion from limiting-as-compression was common from the mid-eighties 'till just five years ago. It varied by station, the CHRs being worst and the well known (Scott) Shannon Mush migrated from it's debut on WHTZ and re-appeared with him on WPLJ.

If anything, the pressure of higher expectations due to digital have forced everone that provides sound to the public to excercise greater care.

Have they ever owned a McIntosh or played a premium-press 33-rpm vinyl disk via a Shure V-15 – I DOUBT IT

I just knew you'ld find a way to cite the Sacred Macintosh and other relics.

Would a Harmon-Kardon Citation one w/KLH model 9 (electrostatics) an Empire 598 wPickering 680eee, do?

As much as I love the sound and aura of all my tube analog equipment (modest collection) being honest I have to admit that in most cases a well made Cd is more revealing and nothing will ever banish the "pinch effect" on records altogether.

Now, the “pom-pom girls” of HD radio are asking us to embrace the current dumbed-down analog audio in digital as AN ENHANCEMENT.... YEA,

-Blame yourself and your bosses for the way radio sounds. if you don't like it, we are just civilians.

Lino.

 

[Play Freebird]

HD-1 [primary] audio quality – obviously “dumb[ed] down” to match the pathetic results of the overpriced and over-depended-upon Omnia and Orban digital audio procs that are routinely-abused by the wannabe-but-corporately-employed twenty-something “PDs” in corporate radio – whose ONLY audio reference is a post-2000 mp-3 file!

What you're hearing is a prime example of the "Peter Principle". The original FM codec spec of 96 kbps wasn't bad, but the leaders of the "HD cartel" couldn't sell enough radios on a claim of improved audio quality, so they decided multicasting would be a better promotional ploy. But where would they find the extra bandwidth?

Well, the decision-making process went something like this:

"96 k sounds fine, so let's go ahead and reduce the HD-1 bitrate to 64 k. OK, 64 k seems pretty good, but most people won't notice, so there shouldn't be any problem running the HD-2 channel at 32 k. Hey, 32 k still seems to work (speech is intelligible, at least) -- and besides, XM and Sirius don't have good very audio either -- so let's cut back some more and add an HD-3."

Basically, the bitrate was reduced to the current level of grungy-ness by managers who had been promoted to levels of incompetence.

I 've even heard rumors that some stations plan to offer up to eight different channels. Let's see, 96 divided by 8....

 

[Savage]

Yep, the Peter Principle remains as immutable these days as the Law of Gravity (the opposite, BTW, of the Law of Comedy...)

"Hmmm. We fired the entire news department and the ratings didn't suffer too much. OK, let's can the midday and 7 to Midnight jocks and get Mr. Angry-Voiced Liner Dude to just say some stuff between the songs...it'll save money. Hey, that didn't hurt too much! Let's load up a bunch more commercial units per hour and call it Less Is More! Boy - we sure saved money by getting rid of two live jocks. Let's go entirely jockless except for morning drive where we can have Mr. Lewd and Ms. Mindless Laugher and syndicate them to a dozen markets - after all, nobody much cares about that localism stuff!" (And on and on, you get the drift.)

An ellipsis here, to allow market forces to change, while all-seeing big group management goes out to the links and lunch for a year or so. Then:

"OMG! Satellite radio is competing with us! iPods are competing with us! The Internet is competing with us! People are walking down the street humming tunes and whistling instead of listening to radio! Not as many people are listening and TSL is in the toilet! What the hell happened??"

"Wait, I know! WE'RE NOT DIGITAL! We need a DIGITAL.....SOMEthing! Engineer-guy - what's your name again? - go get that flashy-flashy IBOC thing and hang it on the transmitter, chop-chop, tout d'suite! That'll buy me another year as cluster manager because I'll look like I'm doing something about the audience loss!"

(If you're in charge of an actual revenue-producing AM signal, you can add the optional material below

"AM is dying, the audience is getting smaller and older, the future is digital, HD is 'what we have now,' the interference isn't TOO bad, not sure, but what the hell, we'll do it anyway, even though we're killing our adjacent 50kw sister station in another market. Engineer-guy, chop the analog bandwidth 'cause all the radios sound like crap today anyway and nobody will notice. After all, we need that groovy HD Radio CD-QUALITY on our AM for Rush, Hannity and the weather. Just do it! Don't be a naysayer!"

 

[LinoNYC]

Yep, the Peter Principle remains as immutable these days as the Law of Gravity (the opposite, BTW, of the Law of Comedy...)

"Hmmm. We fired the entire news department and the ratings didn't suffer too much. OK, let's can the midday and 7 to Midnight jocks and get Mr. Angry-Voiced Liner Dude to just say some stuff between the songs...it'll save money. Hey, that didn't hurt too much! Let's load up a bunch more commercial units per hour and call it Less Is More! Boy - we sure saved money by getting rid of two live jocks. Let's go entirely jockless except for morning drive where we can have Mr. Lewd and Ms. Mindless Laugher and syndicate them to a dozen markets - after all, nobody much cares about that localism stuff!" (And on and on, you get the drift.)

An ellipsis here, to allow market forces to change, while all-seeing big group management goes out to the links and lunch for a year or so. Then:

"OMG! Satellite radio is competing with us! iPods are competing with us! The Internet is competing with us! People are walking down the street humming tunes and whistling instead of listening to radio! Not as many people are listening and TSL is in the toilet! What the hell happened??"

"Wait, I know! WE'RE NOT DIGITAL! We need a DIGITAL.....SOMEthing! Engineer-guy - what's your name again? - go get that flashy-flashy IBOC thing and hang it on the transmitter, chop-chop, tout d'suite! That'll buy me another year as cluster manager because I'll look like I'm doing something about the audience loss!"

(If you're in charge of an actual revenue-producing AM signal, you can add the optional material below

"AM is dying, the audience is getting smaller and older, the future is digital, HD is 'what we have now,' the interference isn't TOO bad, not sure, but what the hell, we'll do it anyway, even though we're killing our adjacent 50kw sister station in another market. Engineer-guy, chop the analog bandwidth 'cause all the radios sound like crap today anyway and nobody will notice. After all, we need that groovy HD Radio CD-QUALITY on our AM for Rush, Hannity and the weather. Just do it! Don't be a naysayer!"

Your description is almost autobiographical isn't it. The lack of a news dept, stations with little (or no) local orgination serving as clearing houses for syndicated fare and anyone that can make it across the threshold check-in-hand.

Digital is the least of AM's problems. Good luck Amigo.

Lino

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

Bob:

Well done. In reply #7, you pretty much nailed the sort of 'group-think' that goes on at many of the station groups......except for one little thing.

I don't think anyone's used the word "groovy" since NBC's "Laugh-In" left the air.

Lino, however, makes a good point in that (technical deficiencies aside)...HD ranks fairly low compared to the much bigger issues and problems facing the AM band.

 

[dbdigital]

"Hmmm. We fired the entire news department and the ratings didn't suffer too much. OK, let's can the midday and 7 to Midnight jocks and get Mr. Angry-Voiced Liner Dude to just say some stuff between the songs...it'll save money. Hey, that didn't hurt too much! Let's load up a bunch more commercial units per hour and call it Less Is More! Boy - we sure saved money by getting rid of two live jocks. Let's go entirely jockless except for morning drive where we can have Mr. Lewd and Ms. Mindless Laugher and syndicate them to a dozen markets - after all, nobody much cares about that localism stuff!" (And on and on, you get the drift.)

"...and, hey, now that we're cutting staff, let's lengthen the air shifts of our talent by an hour for no additional money."

A good friend of mine who has a morning show on a CC FM station just had his shift lengthened and when his shift is finished, he's drained. No adjustment in salary offered.

But, hey ho, he's in HD which will please the half dozen or so people in the city who have HD receivers.

Great summation on the corporate rationalizations of mega broadcasters, Mr. Savage.

db

 

[4dude]

Do you own a HD radio? Why would you make such a statement?

Cause when i try to listen to my ANALOG RADIO,i cant get some of the stuff i used to because of this garbage. (Which doesnt sound as good as analog BTW)

 

[Savage]

A'accord, Dighton. HD is indeed the least of AM radio's problems. (See, previous characterization of the quality of management prevalent in the industry today.) But adding adjacent-channel torrents of skywave interference hardly helps the situation by frustrating existing analog listenership and buttressing a public perception that AM is a noisy, unlistenable antique.

(I use terms like "groovy" on this board because I know Lino appreciates them....along with "fab," "gear," "peachy".....) Since he cares enough about our efforts at WYSL to wish us good luck, I'm pleased to share results from the 2007 financials that just came back from the accountant. Our defective newsless no-merit programming (according to Lino) inexplicably seems to have produced the best year in the station's 20-year history, with revenues up almost 20 percent....on a standalone suburban AM with no corporate resources from which to draw or sister FMs to leverage commercial placements. Wow - just think what we could have done if we actually knew what we're doing!

 

[hipporadio]

YEPPERS, two of “The Three Stooges” of “corporate” and “HD” radio have weighed-in with their banal [and personal] attacks against a cogent post here. Is that surprising? – NOT! ...Only “one” is missing from the assult... HUMMM? Should we be surprised, given the recent “desperation” of corporate radio?

Maybe they are “smarting”, since their corporate masters are suffering A FIFTY-PERCENT REDUCTION in asset value based on their FORMER FRIEND—the stock market. I’ll allow that statistic to speak for itself.

Lino – the “Boulevard corporate-algologist CE” infers that “I was after every DB” in the processing of my FM stations... My head is spinning – NO!!! —that would be my competition with their shiny-new ORBAN DIGITAL Opimod... I was left to fully deprecate my corral of ANALOG devices from a few years EARLIER – which yielded what MANY considered “AWESOME AUDIO” in the face of that digital assault—NO assault at all – rather a WASTE of money by those poor wannabes that couldn’t compete with my CONTENT and superior engineering resources. SORRY, Boulevard Lino – you’re [AGAIN] bloviating WITHOUT the FACTS – you no-not what you speak – TYPICAL, of the desperate “HD Cadre” here!

Back to my original post.... We secured a Polk HD-capable radio—HARDLY a “cheapie” with 2-inch speakers and a 2-watt/channel amp, and it was NO stellar reason to buy HD based on AUDIO QUALITY and HD-2 offerings alone! The so-called “superior” primary HD signal was obviously “dumbed-down” to match the POOR CONTEMPORARY ANALOG audio signature – suffering from EXPENSIVE-yet-SUB-PAR adjustment and performance from the hyper-expensive digital “Wonder-Boxes” [Omnia - Opimad] of today’s FM processing world. Am I the only-one that believes that these are an affront to the VERY-few audiophiles that bother with FM radio? I guess that audio enthusiasts are going the way of formats cast-aside by corporate radio for [ONLY] its laziness and lack of initiative... ‘Maybe, we are no-longer important.... HA! ...WHO IS - or WHO is left?

 

[LinoNYC]

A'accord, Dighton. HD is indeed the least of AM radio's problems. (See, previous characterization of the quality of management prevalent in the industry today.) But adding adjacent-channel torrents of skywave interference hardly helps the situation by frustrating existing analog listenership and buttressing a public perception that AM is a noisy, unlistenable antique.

(I use terms like "groovy" on this board because I know Lino appreciates them....along with "fab," "gear," "peachy".....) Since he cares enough about our efforts at WYSL to wish us good luck, I'm pleased to share results from the 2007 financials that just came back from the accountant. Our defective newsless no-merit programming (according to Lino) inexplicably seems to have produced the best year in the station's 20-year history, with revenues up almost 20 percent....on a standalone suburban AM with no corporate resources from which to draw or sister FMs to leverage commercial placements. Wow - just think what we could have done if we actually knew what we're doing!

(I use terms like "groovy" on this board because I know Lino appreciates them....along with "fab," "gear," "peachy".....)

-Dig it,pops

Our defective newsless no-merit programming (according to Lino)

Where would anyone get such impressions........I know...from your website!

inexplicably seems to have produced the best year in the station's 20-year history, with revenues up almost 20 percent..

Makin' them churches pay!! Clean out that poorbox.

BTW: I guess mean ol' WBZ's iboc hasn't done much damage afterall. We'll keep that on the q-t, don't want to mess up your lawsuit...or wharever.


Lino

 

[LinoNYC]

YEPPERS, two of “The Three Stooges” of “corporate” and “HD” radio have weighed-in with their banal [and personal] attacks against a cogent post here. Is that surprising? – NOT! ...Only “one” is missing from the assult... HUMMM? Should we be surprised, given the recent “desperation” of corporate radio?

Maybe they are “smarting”, since their corporate masters are suffering A FIFTY-PERCENT REDUCTION in asset value based on their FORMER FRIEND—the stock market. I’ll allow that statistic to speak for itself.

Lino – the “Boulevard corporate-algologist CE” infers that “I was after every DB” in the processing of my FM stations... My head is spinning – NO!!! —that would be my competition with their shiny-new ORBAN DIGITAL Opimod... I was left to fully deprecate my corral of ANALOG devices from a few years EARLIER – which yielded what MANY considered “AWESOME AUDIO” in the face of that digital assault—NO assault at all – rather a WASTE of money by those poor wannabes that couldn’t compete with my CONTENT and superior engineering resources. SORRY, Boulevard Lino – you’re [AGAIN] bloviating WITHOUT the FACTS – you no-not what you speak – TYPICAL, of the desperate “HD Cadre” here!

Back to my original post.... We secured a Polk HD-capable radio—HARDLY a “cheapie” with 2-inch speakers and a 2-watt/channel amp, and it was NO stellar reason to buy HD based on AUDIO QUALITY and HD-2 offerings alone! The so-called “superior” primary HD signal was obviously “dumbed-down” to match the POOR CONTEMPORARY ANALOG audio signature – suffering from EXPENSIVE-yet-SUB-PAR adjustment and performance from the hyper-expensive digital “Wonder-Boxes” [Omnia - Opimad] of today’s FM processing world. Am I the only-one that believes that these are an affront to the VERY-few audiophiles that bother with FM radio? I guess that audio enthusiasts are going the way of formats cast-aside by corporate radio for [ONLY] its laziness and lack of initiative... ‘Maybe, we are no-longer important.... HA! ...WHO IS - or WHO is left?

My head is spinning

Sorry to put brakes on your orbiting cranium, you have given nothing but hot air:

yielded what MANY considered “AWESOME AUDIO” in the face of that digital assault—NO assault at all – rather a WASTE of money by those poor wannabes that couldn’t compete with my CONTENT and superior engineering resources.

-No Station calls
-No mention of this "content".
-Not even a hint as to where you fit in the pecking order of engineering.

So, we are left to imagine you stacking a series of Audimaxes, DAP's and who knows..maybe a Shure level-lock (or two) to achieve those "superior engineering resources".

Keep going...

Lino

 

[SUPERCASTER]

LonoNYC said:

-Not even a hint as to where you fit in the pecking order of engineering.

Pecking order?
Who are the Head Peckers?
Who ordered it?
Is there any such list somewhere?
Are there annointed top peckers and the subservient little peckers?
Who annointed the top peckers?

I thought you were discussing engineering not feudalism.

 

[R.F. Burns]

You forgot the Powerside Lino. That will make any station 75% more efficient and at least double your coverage area.

 

[LinoNYC]

You forgot the Powerside Lino. That will make any station 75% more efficient and at least double your coverage area.

PowerSide: SSB for the masses. Another Kahn job.

Lino

 

[hipporadio]

Sorry to put brakes on your orbiting cranium, you have given nothing but hot air:

-No Station calls
-No mention of this "content".
-Not even a hint as to where you fit in the pecking order of engineering.

Lino

Oh this is RICH—so RICH! WHAT about the following disclosures are temp-elevated to the level “hot air”...

...The FACT that “HD” radio thru its MULTIPLE re-launches and TWO-GOING-ON-THREE campaigns earning “The Saddest Sam” marketing status have FAILED miserably to “move the meter” in the consumer marketplace?

...The FACT that as we enter 2008 – LESS THAN A DOZEN notable marketable consumer brands have offered so-called “HD Radio Technology” to the consumer public – and FEW at an attractive price?

...The FACT that SALES to Bob and Betty in the ‘burbs have consistently-hovered at a dismal and near-un-recordable level... WELL-UNDER ONE-PERCENT of CE purchases?

...The FACT that several of “HD Radio’s” original embracers [including Boston Acoustics and the celebrated Radio Shack] have CANCELLED offerings with NO scheduled replacement; and other early committals such as Tivoli have NEVER presented a product to market?

...The FACT that sales of “HD” radios seem to defy measurement – probably because of their miniscule nature, AND—embarrassment to their promoters?

...The FACT that this is THE MOST disputed “technical advance” in the history of such related to the consumer electronics biz?

....[and finally] The FACT that “HD’s” SOLE advocate is a poorly-managed industry in decline that spawned this so-called “technology” in the narrowest of SELF-INTEREST while its listeners were rapidly vanishing; it’s revenues were fading; and stock values were declining at a rate that would SET HISTORY and possibly invite a regulatory inquiry?

On a really BAD DAY, my penchant for “hot air” comes in at a DISTANT fourth-place to the “Corporate Radio Three Stooges” who engage in a daily and ritualistic defense of such here!

OH... I have yet A NEW piece of discouraging trivia to share with your arrogant tendency for blind self-denial... In my current engagement in PRODUCT MARKETING, we receive a quarterly report on utilization of available co-op advertising funds by PRODUCT SEGMENT in published media. I just reviewed the Q-3 2007 stats... You can easily-guess WHAT retailers were using such funds to advertise with reimbursement from “the brand”... HDTV and computers occupied over EIGHTY-PERCENT of the ad placements... But where was “HD Radio”? IT WASN’T—not even rising to the threshold of ONE-PERCENT! ...Boom boxes and bugler alarms DID – but NOT your coveted “HD Radio”! Your retailers were NOT electing to pomote those offerings you so commonly champion here in your little corner of the world known as the R-I “HD Radio” forum.

I’ll casually dismiss the rest of your post as your love and dependence upon the tools-of-your-trade: personal attack; resume comparison; and professional minimization... You invoke them constantly when you FAIL to conjure a cogent argument... I’m NOT biting... Especially when my “call letters” WERE [ten years ago] in a small market well-west of the Hudson, and I’m sure would be “unimpressive” to you... If you hope that I’ll enjoy joining your pathetic attacks on Bob Savage and his station in your despised upstate New York—you are sadly mistaken! ...Merely understand that I OWNED four radio stations for TEN YEARS that I favorably-sold in a “bidding war” among THREE competitors after signage of the TelComm Act... And your background, Lino, is?