"running dogg" wrote in message
news

Anybody remember AM Stereo? Point made. I doubt that IBOC will get
anywhere unless the feds legislate it like they did with HDTV.


IBOC is diffferent than AM stereo. First, I think we agree that the number
of people who listen for "audiophile radio" is even smaller than the number
of AM DXers. And IBOCs low bitrate won't satisfy the discerning ear,
anyway.

But IBOC-FM is already multicasting in some markets, and I suspect there's
the capability for IBOC-AM to multicast after ibiquity's anticipated analog
shutdown. I have a further SWL paranoid nutball suspicion that pay radio is
also among the cards up ibiquity's sleeve.

To continue with my wild ass guesses, I don't think multicasting, itself,
will be a big deal. It would be as if Major League Baseball were to double
the team rosters. The teams wouldn't get more stars and superstars, those
guys are already in the big leagues. The teams would fill up the rosters
from the bottom. So it might be with multicasting. The stations could fill
in with some niche formats.

But, if CBS had their own pay radio scheme in place, they likely could have
kept Howard Stern.

Frank Dresser