For One and All,

IBOC - Redefining AM Radio As We Know It :

To properly implement IBOC in the AM Radio Band
both Day and Night would require that AM Radio
Station Service in the USA be reclassified as a
"Local Voice Media Service".

Reduced - The Power of all Major Market AM Radio
Stations down to 25 KW Day and 10 KW Night

Fix - Regional AM Radio Stations at 10 KW Day
and 5 KW Nights

Allow - Local AM Radio Stations to be rated at
2.5 KW Day and 1 KW Nights.

Low Power - Educational, Community and Translator
AM Radio Stations limited to 250 Watts Day and
100 Watts Night.

ok - so it's another stupid idea ~ RHF

"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
For One and All,

IBOC - Redefining AM Radio As We Know It :

To properly implement IBOC in the AM Radio Band
both Day and Night would require that AM Radio
Station Service in the USA be reclassified as a
"Local Voice Media Service".

Which, for all practical purposes, it is. Night listening to AM is less than
2% of the population to start with. Night listening beyond the groundwave
contour is restricted to a handful of stations as most US AMs have vastly
reduced night coverage compared ot day coverage. So, there are very few
listening to AM at night and very few stations capable of getting a skywave
outside the local coverage area that is consistently listenable.

The FCC has considered stations to be exclusively local for nearly 5
decades.

Reduced - The Power of all Major Market AM Radio
Stations down to 25 KW Day and 10 KW Night

Wrong. In many larger cities, 50 kw is a minimu on anything but the lowest
frequencies to cover the market and overcome the interference level of
computers, dimmers, flourescents, and all manner of other man made
interference.

Your idea neglects the fact that different parts of the AM band have
different coverage for the same power: 50 kw on 1600 covers less than 1 kw
on 540. And it neglects the fact that different parts of the US have vastly
different ground conductivity. 500 watts in Iowa covers better than 50 kw on
Long Island.

Fix - Regional AM Radio Stations at 10 KW Day
and 5 KW Nights

In LA, all but one 5 kw station (KLAC) does not cover the entire market day
or night.

Allow - Local AM Radio Stations to be rated at
2.5 KW Day and 1 KW Nights.

Not enough to cover much of anything at the high end of the dial.

Low Power - Educational, Community and Translator
AM Radio Stations limited to 250 Watts Day and
100 Watts Night.

100 watts today is not usable 2 miles from the transmitter in, let's say,
Florida, above 1200 on the dial.

ok - so it's another stupid idea ~ RHF

Agreed.

David Eduardo wrote:
"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
For One and All,

IBOC - Redefining AM Radio As We Know It :

To properly implement IBOC in the AM Radio Band
both Day and Night would require that AM Radio
Station Service in the USA be reclassified as a
"Local Voice Media Service".

Which, for all practical purposes, it is. Night listening to AM is less than
2% of the population to start with. Night listening beyond the groundwave
contour is restricted to a handful of stations as most US AMs have vastly
reduced night coverage compared ot day coverage. So, there are very few
listening to AM at night and very few stations capable of getting a skywave
outside the local coverage area that is consistently listenable.

I think you should define this "2% of the population" statistic a bit.
Many people have clock radios by their beds and tune into AM at night.
Ever hear of "Coast to Coast AM?".




The FCC has considered stations to be exclusively local for nearly 5
decades.

Reduced - The Power of all Major Market AM Radio
Stations down to 25 KW Day and 10 KW Night

Wrong. In many larger cities, 50 kw is a minimu on anything but the lowest
frequencies to cover the market and overcome the interference level of
computers, dimmers, flourescents, and all manner of other man made
interference.

Your idea neglects the fact that different parts of the AM band have
different coverage for the same power: 50 kw on 1600 covers less than 1 kw
on 540. And it neglects the fact that different parts of the US have vastly
different ground conductivity. 500 watts in Iowa covers better than 50 kw on
Long Island.

Fix - Regional AM Radio Stations at 10 KW Day
and 5 KW Nights

In LA, all but one 5 kw station (KLAC) does not cover the entire market day
or night.

Allow - Local AM Radio Stations to be rated at
2.5 KW Day and 1 KW Nights.

Not enough to cover much of anything at the high end of the dial.

Low Power - Educational, Community and Translator
AM Radio Stations limited to 250 Watts Day and
100 Watts Night.

100 watts today is not usable 2 miles from the transmitter in, let's say,
Florida, above 1200 on the dial.

ok - so it's another stupid idea ~ RHF

Agreed.

wrote in message
ps.com...

David Eduardo wrote:
"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
For One and All,

IBOC - Redefining AM Radio As We Know It :

To properly implement IBOC in the AM Radio Band
both Day and Night would require that AM Radio
Station Service in the USA be reclassified as a
"Local Voice Media Service".

Which, for all practical purposes, it is. Night listening to AM is less
than
2% of the population to start with. Night listening beyond the groundwave
contour is restricted to a handful of stations as most US AMs have vastly
reduced night coverage compared ot day coverage. So, there are very few
listening to AM at night and very few stations capable of getting a
skywave
outside the local coverage area that is consistently listenable.

I think you should define this "2% of the population" statistic a bit.
Many people have clock radios by their beds and tune into AM at night.
Ever hear of "Coast to Coast AM?".

Coast to coast gets a big share of nothing. In overnights, less than 1% of
the population is listening to the radio, and they get, in most markets,
about 10% or less of that.

AM at night gets around a 2 rating. Radio overall about a 7 (7 to Midnight)
A rating point is 1% of the universe. In overnights, the rating is below a 2
for all radio, and below a 0.3 rating for AM.

IBOC will be just another failed attempt to "save" AM radio. AM radio died
decades ago as a viable medium.
In 1985 I was in the industry and at that time CQUAM AM Stereo was gonna
save AM Radio. It didn't and IBOC won't.

In about five years we'll be listening to WIFI on our walkmans and car
radio's.


"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
For One and All,

IBOC - Redefining AM Radio As We Know It :

To properly implement IBOC in the AM Radio Band
both Day and Night would require that AM Radio
Station Service in the USA be reclassified as a
"Local Voice Media Service".

Reduced - The Power of all Major Market AM Radio
Stations down to 25 KW Day and 10 KW Night

Fix - Regional AM Radio Stations at 10 KW Day
and 5 KW Nights

Allow - Local AM Radio Stations to be rated at
2.5 KW Day and 1 KW Nights.

Low Power - Educational, Community and Translator
AM Radio Stations limited to 250 Watts Day and
100 Watts Night.

ok - so it's another stupid idea ~ RHF
.
.
. .

On Sat, 27 May 2006 11:59:34 GMT, "IonSpot" wrote:

IBOC will be just another failed attempt to "save" AM radio. AM radio died
decades ago as a viable medium.
In 1985 I was in the industry and at that time CQUAM AM Stereo was gonna
save AM Radio. It didn't and IBOC won't.

In about five years we'll be listening to WIFI on our walkmans and car
radio's.


Rush Limbaugh and ethnic saved AM.

"David" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 May 2006 11:59:34 GMT, "IonSpot" wrote:

IBOC will be just another failed attempt to "save" AM radio. AM radio
died
decades ago as a viable medium.
In 1985 I was in the industry and at that time CQUAM AM Stereo was gonna
save AM Radio. It didn't and IBOC won't.

In about five years we'll be listening to WIFI on our walkmans and car
radio's.


Rush Limbaugh and ethnic saved AM.

Urban legend.

Rush did not start generating big numbers until the early 90's. What saved
AM was a combination of factors....

1. Repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, allowing more agressive talk radio.
2. Several big companies, like Jacor, Clear Channel, ABC and Infinity
supported news and talk on AM.
3. Most FMs, after programming deregulation in the 80's, dropped most news
and content for music and entertainment. This allowed AMs to be unique in
offering news and content.

By the late 70's, the big Black stations were on FM. So this sector did not
help AM. And Spanish language stations started moving to FM in the very
early 90's, to the point that, as an example, today there are less than 2
shares of Spanish listening on AM in LA and 27 shares on FM. Hispanics don't
use AM much at all, unless ther eis no alternative.

Religious broadcasting did help make marginal AMs viable, though.

The real issue is that a huge percentage of urban located AMs do not cover
the entire market. Some were licensed before the suburban growth of the US
after W.W. II, and others are just bad facilites. In washington DC, there is
not one station that fully covers the entire metro on AM, for example.

Interestingly the AMs with good signals have always been successful.

David,

OK - So I have heard of Rush Limbaugh.
But who is this Mister Ethnic ?) ~ RHF

"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
David,

OK - So I have heard of Rush Limbaugh.
But who is this Mister Ethnic ?) ~ RHF
.

,-)

Interestingly, the first ethnic AMs go back to the late 40's, with ones like
WDIA (then self-described as "Memphis' race station") and WOV (with a remote
studio en Rome) being among the early ones. As FM became viable in the very
late 60's and early 70's, nobody at first thought that the ethnic audiences
would be FM users... many thought Hispanics and Blacks would not listen
because the radios were too expensive. Today, 5 of the top 10 LA stations
are Hispanic, so I guess they saved up for the radios.

"IonSpot" wrote in message
...
IBOC will be just another failed attempt to "save" AM radio. AM radio
died decades ago as a viable medium.

I see. then why are two of the top 3 billing stations in San Francisco AM?
In fact, a quarter of the top 100 billing stations in the USA are AM.

In 1985 I was in the industry and at that time CQUAM AM Stereo was gonna
save AM Radio. It didn't and IBOC won't.

AM swtereo was supposed to launch in 1978. A nasty old man, Leonard Kahn,
sued to try to get his system approved, and it was 1983 before a decision
was made. By that time, AM had gone form 60% of all listening to 40%, and
there was no chance to revive it. Plus, the early C Quam was not a
particularly good system, especially in cars.