wrote in message
oups.com...
See:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article...ml?mod=blog s

Analog AM radio woes...

Gary
K4GPB


Thanks for the link. That article is better than the usual press release
rewrite other tech "journalists" put out.

As usual in the murky world of the upcoming New Digital AM Revolution, many
points bring up unanswered questions. Such as:


"Digital radio is touted as broadcast radio's golden ticket, a technology
that allows broadcasters to squeeze more stations into frequencies that
currently hold just one."

The article is about IBOC-AM. As far as I know, Ibiquity hasn't said
anything about multicasting on IBOC-AM, but it seems to me that it's
multicasting's extra channels which have the potential to bring in extra
revenue and the touted better sound of digital modulation is actually a side
issue.


"Advocates say the technology will allow radio to better compete with
niche-oriented products like Internet radio and with other entertainment
technologies, like iPods."

I suppose a corporation could get pretty nichey with enough channels. But
it's still broadcasting. They'll have a tough time competing for listeners
who want to pick the audio and the time it's played. And even if Clear
Channel can triple the number of channels they have, I doubt they will get
so eclectic as to play the great Thurman Valentine's "Hello, Louise, are you
a lesbian?".


"AM stations can improve the situation by going digital themselves."

The "situation" is the interference situation. I'm not sure how that would
work. By going digital, I'd assume listeners in fringe areas would have
their digital radios autoswitching from one station to another as the signal
level changed. That's assuming there's a number of listeners with digital
receivers.

Frank Dresser