"Radio Ronn" lq6dpvk02-at-sneakemail.com wrote in message
. ..

"Frank Dresser" wrote in message
...

"Radio Ronn" lq6dpvk02-at-sneakemail.com wrote in message
. ..

No, HD offers better fidelity capability than analog. (The radio is
a
seperate story.)

What does "fidelity capability" mean?

For one thing, it means stereo.

That's not clear, but I'm assuming you mean better stereo rather than
stereo
capability.

AM HD is stereo.

AM had stereo first, way back in the past. It was so good, the FCC approved
first one, then FOUR different methods for stereo modulation. Holy cats!
The FCC actually thought there might be enough consumer demand to support
four different AM stereo plans. The broadcasters and manufacturers all
jumped in, as well. Everyone loves stereo, right?

Problem was, people didn't like stereo enough to buy another radio. And
it's not as if the radios were real expensive. They wouldn't buy four AM
stereo standards. They wouldn't buy even one.

Actually, people didn't care much about FM stereo, either. FM stereo didn't
reach mass market appeal until it was almost a give-away with the radio.

There might be a lesson there for HD radio. Give it away and maybe people
will listen. But I really doubt ibiquity will give up licensing fees on
their patents and copyrights.


The people who could have expected most NPR stations to end up on FM
were
at
the FCC.

But the people who have made it sucessful were listeners on their
radios.

True. And there are also AM NPR stations who have shared in NPR's
success.

AM stations with NPR programming are marginally sucessful, if at all.

Yet the AM NPR-istas trudge on, day in, day out, relentlessly, against all
hope. At least, if the NPR AM operations fold, they are perfectly qualified
to become IBOC shills!



And I know our local NPR station was broadcasting mostly mono into
the
90s.
I believe it was NPR network policy to broadcast with the stereo
pilot
off
unless the program was in stereo.

I know some did that in the 70's...I have nvever heard of a station
doing
so
after that.

Around 1990 or so, I heard a "World of Radio" episode in which Glenn
Hauser
complimented the FM NPR stations which turned off the carrier for mono
programming, and he complained about the majority of stations which
needlessly left it on all the time.

Glenn Hauser, another one living in the past. I can't think of one NPR
station that shut off it's stereo pilot for mono/talk programs




Ah, living in the past. I can imagine in the future in which the endless
topic of discussion will be the "if only"s. If only the people stuck with a
mass media fractionalized into 100 pieces, rather than go with
individualized media. If only the advertisers didn't wise up to the fact
that the vast majority of mass media spending misses the target. If only
the magic modulation had come 10 years earlier, it would have kept that
internet thing from breaking up the party.

Lucky for Glenn, if he ever does start living in the past, he can look back
at a lifetime as an accomplished DXer and radio broadcaster.

Frank Dresser

While the public is aware of something called "HD"...they have no reason
to
embrace it.

Bingo.

Just like FM.

Not so much.

Very much. Only the time line is different.

It wasn't until they were aware of programming that interested them.

It still hasn't changed since I last mentioned that you probably don't
have time to wait as long.

Why? Is there a finish line?

It can take as long as it takes.

And there's been no effort to market the HD-2's programming.

By who? Maybe not on a national level, but I've heard individual
stations do it (as I also mentioned before).

(As was mentioned before) Individual stations have marketed HD as a
whole...and have mentioned the new "stations between the stations"....but no
effort ahs been made to tell the public "Hey if you like Jazz/Folk/70's,
etc....then get an HD radio and you can get these all the time!"

I know tons of Jazz and Classical fans who are unhappy their stations went
away in recent years. If they knew that $100 would get them the format
unlimited and without commercials, then they would certainly part with the
$100. The problem is they don't know what formats are available.

AM HD is stereo.

AM had stereo first, way back in the past. It was so good, the FCC
approved
first one, then FOUR different methods for stereo modulation. Holy cats!
The FCC actually thought there might be enough consumer demand to support
four different AM stereo plans. The broadcasters and manufacturers all
jumped in, as well.

Broadcaster's weren't "on board" with the marketplace aspect of picking a
standard.

The "let the marketplace decide the stereo standard" was one mistake that
the FCC didn't make with HD. They named a standard, and all the brodcasters
are on board with the same standard.

With no standard chosen, there was no impetus for the public to buy one
standard over another, nor impetus for manufacturers to start making one
standard over another....in any real sense.

Problem was, people didn't like stereo enough to buy another radio. And
it's not as if the radios were real expensive. They wouldn't buy four AM
stereo standards. They wouldn't buy even one.

They WOULD buy one...IF they knew *which* of the four was the one to buy!
So they waited....and did nothing.

Actually, people didn't care much about FM stereo, either. FM stereo
didn't
reach mass market appeal until it was almost a give-away with the radio.

That's what will happen with HD. Until it starts being included in the next
radio people will purchase, or in the next car they buy.

There might be a lesson there for HD radio. Give it away and maybe people
will listen. But I really doubt ibiquity will give up licensing fees on
their patents and copyrights.

Well, Volvo is making all their 2009's include HD as standard equipment.

Other manufacturers are including it as an option, and I'm sure some people
will buy their cars off the lot with it included without them having to
chose it specifically.

Lucky for Glenn, if he ever does start living in the past, he can look
back
at a lifetime as an accomplished DXer and radio broadcaster.

I'm sure his kids will be impressed.

"A Browne" wrote in message
...

(As was mentioned before) Individual stations have marketed HD as a
whole...and have mentioned the new "stations between the stations"....but
no effort ahs been made to tell the public "Hey if you like
Jazz/Folk/70's, etc....then get an HD radio and you can get these all the
time!"

Wanna good guess why they don't push those extra channels/formats? I will
venture a damn good guess that it's because they don't want to lose the ad
income from the people going to those other channels where there are no ads.

"A Browne" wrote in message
...
Actually, people didn't care much about FM stereo, either. FM stereo
didn't
reach mass market appeal until it was almost a give-away with the radio.

That's what will happen with HD. Until it starts being included in the
next radio people will purchase, or in the next car they buy.

That $50 licensing fee for each chipset will keep a lot of people from EVER
buying an IBOC receiver. The average radio sells for less than $50 now. And
only the most rabid of the early adopters will be willing to add $50 to the
cost of a radio.

"Brenda Ann" wrote in message
...

"A Browne" wrote in message
...
Actually, people didn't care much about FM stereo, either. FM stereo
didn't
reach mass market appeal until it was almost a give-away with the radio.

That's what will happen with HD. Until it starts being included in the
next radio people will purchase, or in the next car they buy.

That $50 licensing fee for each chipset will keep a lot of people from
EVER buying an IBOC receiver. The average radio sells for less than $50
now. And only the most rabid of the early adopters will be willing to add
$50 to the cost of a radio.

The fee is not $50, and your statement is absurd since many receivers have
been sold in the $50 to $100 price range, something that could not be done
were the fee that high.

"Frank Dresser" wrote in message
...


Problem was, people didn't like stereo enough to buy another radio. And
it's not as if the radios were real expensive. They wouldn't buy four AM
stereo standards. They wouldn't buy even one.

By the time in the early 80's when a standard, CQuam, arrose, AM was no
longer a music medium and had less than 40% of all listening.

Actually, people didn't care much about FM stereo, either. FM stereo
didn't
reach mass market appeal until it was almost a give-away with the radio.

Untrue. FM Stereo was introduced in about 1961, and the decade before had
seen total FM stations go from over 1000 in 1950 to around 500 in 1960.

What changed FM was not the technology, but the FCC's 1967 ban on FM
simulcasts with a parent AM station. It was the diversity of formats that
came out of this that sold FM.

"blitz" wrote in message ...

Niche formats on stations largely hasn't worked, HD or main channel,
if you're talking about shareholder demands. They don't want a
low-performing investment.

Every station today is a niche formatted station. When most markets seldom
see shares above a 5 or 6 for the leading station, nobody is mass appeal.
..

#1.) Most stations in the major markets are making a profit. (Not as much
as
they'd like, but definitely a profit.)

I find that hard to believe, with many radio companies' stock sub-$1.
The layoffs CBS just made (which will probably be mimicked by everyone
else) suggest things aren't too rosy.

The viable stations (meaning those which cover the market day and night) are
almost always profitable.

In a recession, revenues decline and stations retain profitability by
cutting costs. They still make money.

"Brenda Ann" wrote in message
...

The last
holdouts for un-compressed signals were the classical stations. This was
because classical listeners expected both pianissimo and crescendo, and
everything in between. The more plebian formats don't matter so much,
since average listeners only seem to care that they can hear something,
not what that something may contain.


Every classical station I have known had peak limiting and some degree of
AGC leveling. First, the legal requirment to not overmodulate comes into
play. And then the fact that the dynamic range of much classical is not
enough on the low side to overcome ambient noise where radios are listened
to. So the dynamic range is reduced, while being greater than that of a CHR
station, it is still reduced significantly. I've owned a classical station
and managed another, and in the process visited many, ranging from KMZT to
WCLV.

"Radio Ronn" lq6dpvk02-at-sneakemail.com wrote in message
. ..

It also removes some (all?) of thecomp[ression that was necessary for AM
analog....and adress listener fatique that occurrs with too much
processing/compression, etc.

Compression isn't and never has been "necessary" for AM analog

Compression isn't necessary for anything. Except it has become common use
expecially on AM where the mdoulation is the signal.

(and btw, it's also used on FM AND on IBOC).

It's used on almost all analog broadcasting. Very little on Iboc.

Wrong. HD signals are processed (the right term) for consistency and a
stable dynamic range. They just are not processed the same way analog is
processed.