"Eric F. Richards" wrote in message
...
"David Eduardo" wrote:


I really don't think AM is savable. It lost it's dominance in the
mid-70's,
and today is mostly a band for people over 55 (over half the AM listeners
in
most markets) and definitely not a band for those under 45 (less than 10%
of
radio listening by this group is to AM). However, if it is to be saved,
there has to be some change in the technology, because the first reason
why
younger people do not listen is because AM sounds bad. Is HD the answer?
Maybe, maybe not. But doing something beats doing nothing.

Of course. That "over 55" mantra again. The "over 55" crowd I know
have a boatload of disposable income, and you are throwing them away.

Sorrry, but don't place this package at radio's door. The facts are that
advertisers, via their ad agencies, specify who they wish to market to. And
for radio, it is some part or subset of the broad 18 to 54 year old market.
Advertisers (and we are talking about companies some of which spend hundreds
of millions on researching their markets adn products... like P&G) do not go
for over-55 because they have universally found that there is no return on
investment; this group has better formed buying habits and it takes so much
advertising that there is no profit on the sale to older consumers.

If there are no potential advertisers, there is no way to offer a service to
a particular segment of the audience via commercial radio. And the fact is
that there are virtually no ad campaigns targeting over-55 coming from
America's ad agencies for radio as an ad medium.


There is no point to this analogy. HD is not exclusive or required.

Except that it will be if iBiquity gets its way. There is no
open-source implementation of IBOC, and there never will be. IBOC is
proprietary and anyone who wants to build an "HD" radio will have to
deal with iBiquity.

So? There is still choice. Early radio transmitters all paid rights for
design use... early FM did, to Maj. Armstong's company.

Stations
can use it or not. Listeners can keep listening to the analog signal,
just
like before. There is no switch to a proprietary "radio" bus... just the
additon of a digital alternative.

It has been pointed out repeatedly that management of radio wants to
see the analog signal to go away. Can't turn it on or off for a fee
like you can a digital stream...

Funny, but I am in management and I know a lot of other people in
management. I have never heard any kind of "mission" to convert to digital
discussed. I have heard the occasional, "wouldn't it be nice if AM was all
digital" comments but we all know this is either impossible or a decade
down the road. I wonder if AM will make it that far, with or without HD.


Back to radio... you want AM to be FM and FM to be CD.

No, we want AM to sound half decent, and FM to have a robust digital
stream
of the main channel and have added texting abilities and a second or even
third channel to play with. So far, HD-2 has returned country and oldies
to
NY, Tejano to Dallas and Houston and Austin, and many other "hole
filling"
with missing free formats.

Well, you've guaranteed that AM will sound like ****.

Why? Analog AM on 95% or better of receivers sounds better, and HD is a vast
improvement. Of course, I have the advantage of actually having listened to
HD stations, and actually owning HD radios of several brands, including one
that came in my car.

In my sector, time spent listening to the radio is up, and is about 20%
higher than that of general market (non-Hispanic) listeners. Maybe it is
because we provide entertaining shows, good music, good talent, and focus
on
what the listeners tell us they want... we have over 45 people just
finding
out listener needs.

Your audience is up because radio is a reasonable format for
blue-collar workers to be entertained by. Can't watch TV while doing
manual labor.

Can't watch TV while doing any kind of job, really. Radio and TV are,
generally, used for totally different purposes anyway.

The fact is that most of America is working class, and 94% uses radio
regularly.

There is a royalty for the chip, and once hte radio is paid for, there is
no
further cost... unlike satellite, streaming, etc., which require a
subscription or a paid connection. Radio stations pay tiny fees that
barely
impact the operations. New chip designs, in various stages of
development,
will reduce power requirements to about 10% of the first generation. And
the
analog signal is not going to go away for a long time, if ever.


I read the article. Like everything else, you misrepresented it.

You did not read well enough. The chip, like any patented device, carries a
charge by iBiquity whether it is an iBiquity chip or a third party one. Once
the radio is bought, there are no other fees to the consumer.

Radio stations pay a minor licencing fee to use the technology.

There is no ongoing cost for the consumer.


The FM will NOT be CD -- it will be the same compressed, preprogrammed
pap that makes everyone sick.

It actually does sound much better than analog FM,

Monkey chatter doesn't make a signal sound better. If you weren't
tone deaf you'd know that.

Just at our LA office we have about 20 HD receivers. Nobody will go back to
listening to their station on analog after they have tried the digital
version. It sounds much cleaner and more like the CDs we use as source
material, in part due to the lack of the 75 ms preemphasis curve on analog
FM.


And, of course AM will be abandoned, by its once loyal base, because
they are disgusted. The final nail will be in the coffin.

There is no loyal base now. That is the problem. The audio is perceiveed
to
suck, and even formats like news / talk with strong 35-54 appeal don't
get
listening unless the format is moved to FM, as it has been in New
Orleans,
Orlando, tallahassee, Jacksonville, Salt Lake City, Washington DC,
Phoenix.,
Pittsburgh, etc.

Of course not. That's why people are screaming bloody murder about
what you are doing.

"Of course not" what? The only people screaming are a few DXers and a few
audiophiles. The rest of the public, at present, does not give a damn yet.
Most people do not know what HD is, since promotion was only launched about
9 months ago. As awareness, additional channels, cheaper radios, portables,
etc., roll out, there will be a slowly developing interest ... just like it
took half a decade for FM stereo to get any kind of traction.

I hope that your enduring legacy is that of the guy that helped
destroy radio in the united states. That the phrase "to Gleason"
means to destroy through thoughtless short-sightedness.

Trying to do something to help save AM is hardly destructive. Since so few
are currently listening, and since nearly no one in the last two generations
uses AM, this is a difficult task and may not be possible. AM was mortally
wounded back in the 70's... it is hard to visualize it being fully viable
ever again, but the better signals could possibly be saved.