M
Mike Walker
Guest
You're right, Savage. Didn't mean to "savage" you. My bad.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Where do you see IBOC going?
- Thread starter Len14043
- Start date
My prediction is that the medium-wave band (540-1700 kHz) will first lose IBOC, and then eventually dry up and blow away over time. Given today's "environmental" conditions, with more steel structures, plus RFI from a zillion different consumer-electronics devices, MW has devolved into a lousy set of frequencies that is far too susceptible to noise for reliable reception. If you divided the entire AM band into 10 really fat, high-bandwidth channels, it still wouldn't save it from the eventual grave.
M
Mike Walker
Guest
And I predict Phillip's prediction will prove to be nonsense. At the very least, the big signal AMs cover their market, interference and all, as well as the FMs do. At their best, they do much more.
The number one radio station in my (small) market is an AM country station with lots of "live and local" programming, local news, and a HUGELY popular live music program featuring local musicians every Friday morning.
Another station in a neighboring market has recently replaced their transmitter and antenna, and now (with 5,000 watts) is solid for 80 miles in most any direction (WKSK 580 AM West Jefferson, NC) They also are STILL number one, despite the presence of a late 90s drop-in FM in the (small) market.
The number one radio station in my (small) market is an AM country station with lots of "live and local" programming, local news, and a HUGELY popular live music program featuring local musicians every Friday morning.
Another station in a neighboring market has recently replaced their transmitter and antenna, and now (with 5,000 watts) is solid for 80 miles in most any direction (WKSK 580 AM West Jefferson, NC) They also are STILL number one, despite the presence of a late 90s drop-in FM in the (small) market.
The number of homes being build with interior steel studs instead of wood is increasing at an amazing rate. AM is dead inside these homes. DEAD.
M
Mike Walker
Guest
"AM is dead inside these homes. DEAD".
Which is why God invented antennas, and cable. An AM Advantage by a Window (or hell, the loop that comes with your radio), and the problem is solved (ok, you may need a ferrite rod to inductively couple the signal to your radio, in addition to the cable).
If the programming is there, people will put up an antenna to receive it. TV and satellite radio prove that. It's about the programming.
Which is why God invented antennas, and cable. An AM Advantage by a Window (or hell, the loop that comes with your radio), and the problem is solved (ok, you may need a ferrite rod to inductively couple the signal to your radio, in addition to the cable).
If the programming is there, people will put up an antenna to receive it. TV and satellite radio prove that. It's about the programming.
Well then GOD better install those antennas too, because people do NOT futz with antennas anymore. They DO NOT. It's the same reason IBOC on AM is becoming such a horrid failure. If they flip to AM and can only get two or three stations at best, they're flipping to FM, the Internet, or something else.
On my Directed Electronics (DEI) home HD radio, its biggest source of interference is the radio ITSELF!
They (DEI) need to put a MUCH LONGER cable on their AM antenna so you can get the loop the hell away from the radio itself. I stuffed a wire antenna into the AM loop terminal and you couldn't use it, so I had to add a shielded cable.
Anybody have a way to get ahold of an engineer at DEI to fix this, and fix HUGE problems with their mobile HD add-on tuner?
Their DEI add-on HD-tuner had total audio distortion at the RCA jacks the first 5 minutes the tuner is on; then their FM modulator for AM-HD is off-frequency just enough to cause horrible sibilance on the AM-HD audio (which I initially blamed on the HD station's processing). The "AGC" and/or digital noise reduction also requires a change so that analog sensitivity doesn't go to zero; their mobile HD radio ramps down the volume/AGC really low so you don't hear any noise - and you also don't hear any station either - until it pops into HD and smokes your speakers.
They (DEI) need to put a MUCH LONGER cable on their AM antenna so you can get the loop the hell away from the radio itself. I stuffed a wire antenna into the AM loop terminal and you couldn't use it, so I had to add a shielded cable.
Anybody have a way to get ahold of an engineer at DEI to fix this, and fix HUGE problems with their mobile HD add-on tuner?
Their DEI add-on HD-tuner had total audio distortion at the RCA jacks the first 5 minutes the tuner is on; then their FM modulator for AM-HD is off-frequency just enough to cause horrible sibilance on the AM-HD audio (which I initially blamed on the HD station's processing). The "AGC" and/or digital noise reduction also requires a change so that analog sensitivity doesn't go to zero; their mobile HD radio ramps down the volume/AGC really low so you don't hear any noise - and you also don't hear any station either - until it pops into HD and smokes your speakers.
M
Mike Walker
Guest
As for people "not futzing with antennas", ask a custom antenna installer. A friend of mine says that the advent of digital tv has resulted in the biggest growth spurt in that business in decades.
TV and radio are two entirely different animals. People call the cable or dish company to hook up their TV "antenna" for them.
As for AM versus the re-emergence of antenna installations for TV, again, apples vs. oranges. There is NOTHING NEW that people want from AM. HD Radio ain't it. HDTV, on the other hand, is all about sharp pictures and 16:9 video. It's "cool" to many people. It's "cool" to show your friends. People talk about how the football game looked last night in HD, they do NOT talk about how clear it sounded in HD Radio, FM vs. AM, or via the internet. People's desire for HD Radio on AM is negligible compared to their desire for HDTV. Likewise, the desire to make AM stations listenable where they currently aren't is also negligible.
As for AM versus the re-emergence of antenna installations for TV, again, apples vs. oranges. There is NOTHING NEW that people want from AM. HD Radio ain't it. HDTV, on the other hand, is all about sharp pictures and 16:9 video. It's "cool" to many people. It's "cool" to show your friends. People talk about how the football game looked last night in HD, they do NOT talk about how clear it sounded in HD Radio, FM vs. AM, or via the internet. People's desire for HD Radio on AM is negligible compared to their desire for HDTV. Likewise, the desire to make AM stations listenable where they currently aren't is also negligible.
M
MotoMuzak
Guest
"Where do you see IBOC going?"
In 5 years (2012)~
IBIQUITY FM
Either used as a STL for analogue AM stations (or even FMs, considering the digital channel is of sufficient bandwidth to avoid artefacts) or as a "closed-circuit"-type system; carrying things like Muzak, radio reading services (a number of areas actually are doing this right now, including OPB), some re-incarnation of Physician's Radio Net, foreign programming or even data services, in practice sort of a digital alternative to the analogue SCA channel. Portable receivers are available, but at this point are only enjoying moderate popularity by the public because they are still quite expensive. Multi-mode (Ibiquity/FMExtra/CAM-D/DRM/ATSC audio/Analogue AM & FM etc.) receivers are available.
IBIQUITY AM
Stalled out, possibly to the point of being discontinued completelly, because the interference to existing analogue AM's has become a problem.
FMEXTRA
Still not particularly popular in the USA, but is seeing increased adoption in Europe because of its fidelity improvement over the Eureka 147 DAB system. EU147 is gradually phased out (mostly), favouring FMX.
CAM-D
Possibly "hanging on by a thread", either by Leonard's oddball marketing techniques and commentary (anyone read the Wrath? http://wrathofkahn.org/) or development stalled because of KCI's apparent reluctance to release technical information, resulting in few (if any) receivers available.
DRM/DRM+
Gradually seeing implementation in Mediumwave in the US/Canada. Some listeners are able to convert their radios to receive DRM with the aid of a computer, while full DRM-capable radios, likely MW *and* SW in the same unit, are just rolling out and should be available in the USA within the year.
EUREKA 147
Taking hold somewhat in the USA, utilising the vacant 59-85 MHz VHF and possibly some UHF spectra left created by the full-scale adiotion to ATSC in the USA (IF the FCC doesn't extend the NTSC kill-date further into the future, of course.) Canada continues its experimentation with EU147 using the general L-band allocation. More and more broadcasters try to use EU147's US implementation and the bandwidth of the channels are narrowed to the point that many stations are unlistenable due to their poor quality. EU147 still hangs around, but its future as a mainstream format seems iffy unless improvements are made.
ANALOGUE FM
Still a popular medium of mainstream radio broadcasts. Has Ibiquity FM, but for the most part analogue FM seems to be around for a very long while to come.
ANALOGUE AM
In decline. Not many people are listening, especially amongst younger listeners, and many analogue AMs currently are struggling to stay in business.
In 10 years (2017)~
IBIQUITY FM
Many of the analogue FMs we are listening to are being broadcast from towers being fed an STL relay using the Ibiquity system. Blind and Disabled people are enjoying book readings, newspaper readings, music etc. in better fidelity than they were able to obtain from their older SCA tuners. The very music you hear coming out of the speaker over the table in the restaurant you eat in is probably receiving a Muzak feed relayed over an Ibiquity FM channel, more than likely originating from Muzak's DBS service on Echostar (assuming Echostar is still in business at that time.) In the mainstream, however, little effort has been made by retailers to inform the public about the system and ends up becoming a flop in the general consumer's eyes; a situation similar to what happened to AM Stereo in the long run.
IBIQUITY AM
Dead and gone, for the most part. There may be the occasional, odd little AM transmitting a data channel somewhere on the band but by and large, ends up being a consumer failure. Little attention is even paid to analogue AM by mainstream listeners because FM is of higher fidelity and is most likely to be noticed by the younger crowds anyways, and it is rapidly becoming the domain of HAM operations if it isn't deragulated altogether. If the latter happens, AM becomes the domain of not only HAM operators (possibly in a CB-like fashion) but possibly experimental or one-time music AM's, pirate radio etc.
FMEXTRA
Already thriving in Europe, and catching on to some degree in the USA as well. Receivers have been available for a few years but generally are still somewhat obscure.
CAM-D
Dead. Leonard himself, in fact, may have passed away by then, and with the gradual abandonment of the AM band usage of CAM-D increasingly becomes a moot point itself; merely a page in AM radio history.
DRM/DRM+
Seeing development, but DRM stations are few and far between. Adiotion is gradual, but slow, mostly because of developments and improvements made in...........
EUREKA 147
.........which has not only had its sound quality problem solved because of the availability of channels in other bands conducive to DAB (and the subsequent "lightening-up" of the strain placed on channels caused by overcrowding by the previous over-abundance of multicasts), but is rapidly becoming the home of many talk, ethnic, nostalgia etc. stations which once were mostly found on analogue AM. Coverage problems, however, continue but are solved with due diligence.
ANALOGUE FM
Still hanging around, but is in somewhat slow decline mostly because of improvements in EU147 and FMX technology.
ANALOGUE AM
Largely dead. It has somewhat become the domain of HAM operators and pirate radio stations, but has pretty much been deprecated as a mainstream broadcast band.
In 5 years (2012)~
IBIQUITY FM
Either used as a STL for analogue AM stations (or even FMs, considering the digital channel is of sufficient bandwidth to avoid artefacts) or as a "closed-circuit"-type system; carrying things like Muzak, radio reading services (a number of areas actually are doing this right now, including OPB), some re-incarnation of Physician's Radio Net, foreign programming or even data services, in practice sort of a digital alternative to the analogue SCA channel. Portable receivers are available, but at this point are only enjoying moderate popularity by the public because they are still quite expensive. Multi-mode (Ibiquity/FMExtra/CAM-D/DRM/ATSC audio/Analogue AM & FM etc.) receivers are available.
IBIQUITY AM
Stalled out, possibly to the point of being discontinued completelly, because the interference to existing analogue AM's has become a problem.
FMEXTRA
Still not particularly popular in the USA, but is seeing increased adoption in Europe because of its fidelity improvement over the Eureka 147 DAB system. EU147 is gradually phased out (mostly), favouring FMX.
CAM-D
Possibly "hanging on by a thread", either by Leonard's oddball marketing techniques and commentary (anyone read the Wrath? http://wrathofkahn.org/) or development stalled because of KCI's apparent reluctance to release technical information, resulting in few (if any) receivers available.
DRM/DRM+
Gradually seeing implementation in Mediumwave in the US/Canada. Some listeners are able to convert their radios to receive DRM with the aid of a computer, while full DRM-capable radios, likely MW *and* SW in the same unit, are just rolling out and should be available in the USA within the year.
EUREKA 147
Taking hold somewhat in the USA, utilising the vacant 59-85 MHz VHF and possibly some UHF spectra left created by the full-scale adiotion to ATSC in the USA (IF the FCC doesn't extend the NTSC kill-date further into the future, of course.) Canada continues its experimentation with EU147 using the general L-band allocation. More and more broadcasters try to use EU147's US implementation and the bandwidth of the channels are narrowed to the point that many stations are unlistenable due to their poor quality. EU147 still hangs around, but its future as a mainstream format seems iffy unless improvements are made.
ANALOGUE FM
Still a popular medium of mainstream radio broadcasts. Has Ibiquity FM, but for the most part analogue FM seems to be around for a very long while to come.
ANALOGUE AM
In decline. Not many people are listening, especially amongst younger listeners, and many analogue AMs currently are struggling to stay in business.
In 10 years (2017)~
IBIQUITY FM
Many of the analogue FMs we are listening to are being broadcast from towers being fed an STL relay using the Ibiquity system. Blind and Disabled people are enjoying book readings, newspaper readings, music etc. in better fidelity than they were able to obtain from their older SCA tuners. The very music you hear coming out of the speaker over the table in the restaurant you eat in is probably receiving a Muzak feed relayed over an Ibiquity FM channel, more than likely originating from Muzak's DBS service on Echostar (assuming Echostar is still in business at that time.) In the mainstream, however, little effort has been made by retailers to inform the public about the system and ends up becoming a flop in the general consumer's eyes; a situation similar to what happened to AM Stereo in the long run.
IBIQUITY AM
Dead and gone, for the most part. There may be the occasional, odd little AM transmitting a data channel somewhere on the band but by and large, ends up being a consumer failure. Little attention is even paid to analogue AM by mainstream listeners because FM is of higher fidelity and is most likely to be noticed by the younger crowds anyways, and it is rapidly becoming the domain of HAM operations if it isn't deragulated altogether. If the latter happens, AM becomes the domain of not only HAM operators (possibly in a CB-like fashion) but possibly experimental or one-time music AM's, pirate radio etc.
FMEXTRA
Already thriving in Europe, and catching on to some degree in the USA as well. Receivers have been available for a few years but generally are still somewhat obscure.
CAM-D
Dead. Leonard himself, in fact, may have passed away by then, and with the gradual abandonment of the AM band usage of CAM-D increasingly becomes a moot point itself; merely a page in AM radio history.
DRM/DRM+
Seeing development, but DRM stations are few and far between. Adiotion is gradual, but slow, mostly because of developments and improvements made in...........
EUREKA 147
.........which has not only had its sound quality problem solved because of the availability of channels in other bands conducive to DAB (and the subsequent "lightening-up" of the strain placed on channels caused by overcrowding by the previous over-abundance of multicasts), but is rapidly becoming the home of many talk, ethnic, nostalgia etc. stations which once were mostly found on analogue AM. Coverage problems, however, continue but are solved with due diligence.
ANALOGUE FM
Still hanging around, but is in somewhat slow decline mostly because of improvements in EU147 and FMX technology.
ANALOGUE AM
Largely dead. It has somewhat become the domain of HAM operators and pirate radio stations, but has pretty much been deprecated as a mainstream broadcast band.
I see IBOC as a waste of money. AM's problem, and for that matter much of FM also, is not fidelity, it's content. Radio is getting more boring by the day. Tuning across the dial, especially in a big market, it sounds like there are just a few stations cloned over, and over, and over. Digital boredom is just a boring as analog boredom. All IBOC is doing is driving me to satellite radio.
M
Mike Walker
Guest
Better content IS the answer to longterm success, but jeez, it's not an either/or situation. Better content, MORE content (including formats missing in many markets), AND better fidelity make a powerful combination.
I probably don't watch any more tv since I got satellite, a new roof antenna, and an HDTV. I just enjoy it more. MUCH more. Content still rules, but come on...if two programs you like are on, and you have a new widescreen HDTV, you're not really going to choose the SD 4:3 one, are you?
Show me someone who thinks FM fidelity is "just fine", and I'll show you someone who lives in an Urban or Suburban area. HD is a revelation in rural areas, for people like me. EVERY analog signal (except for the one 100kw blowtorch) is distant and hissy. But they're rock-solid, and dead quiet in HD. And since it's about content, how about the 24/7 classical music missing from the Greensboro market since WFDD, along with many other NPR stations, went talk. It's now back on HD2. There are other formats....CONTENT which simply wouldn't be (and weren't) available without HD. It's about CONTENT? You're damn right. And CONTENT is what FM HD provides more of!
I probably don't watch any more tv since I got satellite, a new roof antenna, and an HDTV. I just enjoy it more. MUCH more. Content still rules, but come on...if two programs you like are on, and you have a new widescreen HDTV, you're not really going to choose the SD 4:3 one, are you?
Show me someone who thinks FM fidelity is "just fine", and I'll show you someone who lives in an Urban or Suburban area. HD is a revelation in rural areas, for people like me. EVERY analog signal (except for the one 100kw blowtorch) is distant and hissy. But they're rock-solid, and dead quiet in HD. And since it's about content, how about the 24/7 classical music missing from the Greensboro market since WFDD, along with many other NPR stations, went talk. It's now back on HD2. There are other formats....CONTENT which simply wouldn't be (and weren't) available without HD. It's about CONTENT? You're damn right. And CONTENT is what FM HD provides more of!
Most of the US population does not live in far rural areas where there is only little or very weak local or suburban AM or FM analog radio coverage.
Because you like listening to the 1 or 2 HD FM signals you might be able to reliably receive the rest of the public is supposed to quietly accept HD radio's destruction of the public's airwaves?
No way, Jose. (Or is that another HD supporter?)
I have an interesting question.
If your super high gain FM antenna so vastly improves a tiny, much less robust 1,000 watt (approximately) HD FM signal so well that you can reliably get it from almost 100 miles away, why does it not provide at least the same gain and signal improvement for the 100,000 watt main analog carrier of the same stations?
Have you stumbled upon a secret HD only FM antenna?
Because you like listening to the 1 or 2 HD FM signals you might be able to reliably receive the rest of the public is supposed to quietly accept HD radio's destruction of the public's airwaves?
No way, Jose. (Or is that another HD supporter?)
I have an interesting question.
If your super high gain FM antenna so vastly improves a tiny, much less robust 1,000 watt (approximately) HD FM signal so well that you can reliably get it from almost 100 miles away, why does it not provide at least the same gain and signal improvement for the 100,000 watt main analog carrier of the same stations?
Have you stumbled upon a secret HD only FM antenna?
M
Mike Walker
Guest
Again Cal, the point was if there are two programs you like (scratch that, one you like equally in both 16:9 HD and 4:3 SD), the vast majority wouldn't select 4:3 SD (if they had seen how spectacular 16:9 HD looks!)
And Supercaster my dial is FULL of HD choices from bottom to top, in my rural location (from Greensboro, Charlotte, Asheville, Hickory, Spartanburg/Greenville, Black Mountain). I've NEVER said I received only 1 or 2 HD signals in my rural location. There are many rock solid signals, and new ones all the time. What I've said is that I get noisy reception, even with a very expensive roof antenna, on most ANALOG signals. HD locks in and is noise-free. The only station I KNOW is in HD that I have occasional signal-lock difficulty is 88.7, WNCW in Spindale NC...on a first adjacent to 88.5 WFDD Winston Salem NC. I'm between Winston Salem and Spindale, much closer to W-S. WFDD is rock-solid in HD, but WNCW occasionally just won't lock. There's also another 1st adjacent on 88.9. Of the multitude of HD signals I receiver, that's the only "locking" problem that can't be solved with just a slight rotation of the antenna. And it's more than a hundred freakin' miles away!
And Supercaster my dial is FULL of HD choices from bottom to top, in my rural location (from Greensboro, Charlotte, Asheville, Hickory, Spartanburg/Greenville, Black Mountain). I've NEVER said I received only 1 or 2 HD signals in my rural location. There are many rock solid signals, and new ones all the time. What I've said is that I get noisy reception, even with a very expensive roof antenna, on most ANALOG signals. HD locks in and is noise-free. The only station I KNOW is in HD that I have occasional signal-lock difficulty is 88.7, WNCW in Spindale NC...on a first adjacent to 88.5 WFDD Winston Salem NC. I'm between Winston Salem and Spindale, much closer to W-S. WFDD is rock-solid in HD, but WNCW occasionally just won't lock. There's also another 1st adjacent on 88.9. Of the multitude of HD signals I receiver, that's the only "locking" problem that can't be solved with just a slight rotation of the antenna. And it's more than a hundred freakin' miles away!
B
Bob Young
Guest
In five years people will be saying about iBlock (if they say anything at all which is very doubtful as I don't know a single person besides radio people who have even heard of it, most people don't even care about digital TV, they're just PO'ed they have to buy it or buy a box) "Remember that umm.... digital stuff? What happened to it?" reply: Umm. I don't know, come to think of it, what happened to AM stereo?
R
Radioman100
Guest
ng0g said:
Are you serious? More choice is driving you to satellite radio?
I can't deny the fact that analog FM is pretty much the same ol' same ol'. Radio has to do its best to try to please Wall Street, and apparently most Americans don't really have eclectic tastes in music. If you want to make a buck, playing it safe isn't a bad way to go.
But those same radio stations are trying things on their HD2 channels that either weren't successful enough to continue devoting a regular FM channel to or have never been tried at all.
Take Wichita, Kansas for example. Do you think a dance station would be sustainable there on an analog FM? Probably not, but it's available on HD2.
How about the gay or all 90s or all Beatles HD2 channels in Dallas? Do you think any of those formats could sustain an analog FM in that market? There's also a Triple A format on HD2 in Dallas. Could the market sustain it on regular FM? Maybe, but probably not. Austin has a very successful one, but DFW is nowhere near as eclectic as Austin. It does have a home though on HD2. Smooth Jazz got the boot from analog FM in Dallas, but it lives on via HD2.
SUPERCASTER said:
Yet you incessantly contend HD radio is not receivable? Pick a beef and stay with it. Is it "Doesn't wpork with fringe signals" or "Only good for those in rural areas"?
How about "Whatever it is I just hate it." There's a winner.
So now RURAL listening of HD is the big problem? And now there is destruction on FM? Does HD cause global warming? Give us a break.
Funny. You might want to stick to humor. Your analysis isn't as good.
Ooops... Lets clean this up. Time on the edit ran out...
Yet you incessantly contend HD radio is not receivable? Pick a beef and stay with it. Is it "Doesn't wpork with fringe signals" or "Only good for those in rural areas"?
How about "Whatever it is I just hate it." There's a winner.
So now RURAL listening of HD is the big problem? And now there is destruction on FM? Does HD cause global warming? Give us a break.
Funny. You might want to stick to humor. Your analysis isn't as good.
This from someone who claims to have a technical background and regularly addresses these issues. If you had the vaguest idea of how digital signals work, you'd see why your assertion is more "Soup Junk Science."
Here's a hint. Digital has a much lower signal requirement than analog. (See DTV).
However I'm sure you, as an engineering type, knew this. In which case you just ignored it and misled us to advance your position. Or is it you didn't know this. In which case...? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Which is it?
Only in your world. Out here in reality it's called PHYSICS.
Please, I'm asking you, Stop applying 2nd grade knowledge & LOGIC to college level questions. Whether you agree with HD or not, the signal levels required for Digital are much different. ANYONE with a respectable backgrond accepts this. If you had that background, so would you.
Digital requires much lower signal levels as can be shown here...
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/curves.html
In fact, if you accept an FM signal is the same as a DTV signal (Which analog is...) then FM class b has a "COL contour " of 92+ KM.
This makes what Mike contends VERY reasonable.
Clouseau
Sorry for the "Take Two"...
SUPERCASTER said:
Yet you incessantly contend HD radio is not receivable? Pick a beef and stay with it. Is it "Doesn't wpork with fringe signals" or "Only good for those in rural areas"?
How about "Whatever it is I just hate it." There's a winner.
So now RURAL listening of HD is the big problem? And now there is destruction on FM? Does HD cause global warming? Give us a break.
Funny. You might want to stick to humor. Your analysis isn't as good.
This from someone who claims to have a technical background and regularly addresses these issues. If you had the vaguest idea of how digital signals work, you'd see why your assertion is more "Soup Junk Science."
Here's a hint. Digital has a much lower signal requirement than analog. (See DTV).
However I'm sure you, as an engineering type, knew this. In which case you just ignored it and misled us to advance your position. Or is it you didn't know this. In which case...? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Which is it?
Only in your world. Out here in reality it's called PHYSICS.
Please, I'm asking you, Stop applying 2nd grade knowledge & LOGIC to college level questions. Whether you agree with HD or not, the signal levels required for Digital are much different. ANYONE with a respectable backgrond accepts this. If you had that background, so would you.
Digital requires much lower signal levels as can be shown here...
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/curves.html
In fact, if you accept an FM signal is the same as a DTV signal (Which analog is...) then FM class b has a "COL contour " of 92+ KM.
This makes what Mike contends VERY reasonable.
Clouseau
Sorry for the "Take Two"...
AM IBOC: Will fade out and suffer the same fate as AM Stereo, probably worse.
FM IBOC: This is a tough one. It might go the way of AM Stereo, it might be used primarily for specialist services (ethnic, reading, etc.) as somebody mentioned earlier, or it might go on operating as it currently does, used for digital simulcasts and multicasts, but with limited popularity. I don't see FM IBOC as the future of radio, however.
What I do see as the future is a cell phone-like "content delivery" system. Each radio will have an IP address, and access to a virtually infinite variety of stations, as long as they are in a coverage of a cell, which will be smaller in coverage range, greater in number, and higher in bandwidth than at present. I imagine this being the way most will listen to radio content by 2030-2040 or so. Analog FM or satellite radio will live on somewhat as terrestrial TV broadcasts do today, accessed by a small percentage of the population when out of cell range, who do not pay for access to the cell network (if it is not free and public the way roads or other infrastructure are today), or who do not yet possess an IP-capable radio (perhaps for security / privacy concerns). Analog AM radio has been on the decline for some time, but will survive to at least 2020, probably well beyond that; most sports / news radio listeners do not seem to take much issue with the audio quality of AM broadcasts.
FM IBOC: This is a tough one. It might go the way of AM Stereo, it might be used primarily for specialist services (ethnic, reading, etc.) as somebody mentioned earlier, or it might go on operating as it currently does, used for digital simulcasts and multicasts, but with limited popularity. I don't see FM IBOC as the future of radio, however.
What I do see as the future is a cell phone-like "content delivery" system. Each radio will have an IP address, and access to a virtually infinite variety of stations, as long as they are in a coverage of a cell, which will be smaller in coverage range, greater in number, and higher in bandwidth than at present. I imagine this being the way most will listen to radio content by 2030-2040 or so. Analog FM or satellite radio will live on somewhat as terrestrial TV broadcasts do today, accessed by a small percentage of the population when out of cell range, who do not pay for access to the cell network (if it is not free and public the way roads or other infrastructure are today), or who do not yet possess an IP-capable radio (perhaps for security / privacy concerns). Analog AM radio has been on the decline for some time, but will survive to at least 2020, probably well beyond that; most sports / news radio listeners do not seem to take much issue with the audio quality of AM broadcasts.
- Status