[opendtv] Re: FCC on revitalizing the AM band

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2015 02:14:11 +0000

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

HD radios did not move off of the store shelves.

I *never* even saw them on store shelves, Craig. It's small wonder they didn't
move off! Even the tiny Insignia HD Radio tuner I bought wasn't on display. I
saw somewhere that Best Buy had these, but they weren't on display. The guy in
the blue shirt had to rummage back in the warehouse to find it. Any wonder why
they don't sell?

I don't know whether the chicken or the egg comes first. What I do know is that
way back when, FM tuners became ubiquitous in radios, and ONLY THEN did FM take
off. Not before. And why did FM become ubiquitous in cars? Because the FCC said
so. People were not screaming for FM radios, ever. Ditto UHF TV. It's always
the same story. You claim "the market doesn't support," but I say that the
market is never given a chance. HD Radio is super cheap. Just put the blasted
tuner chip in all radios, and they will get used.

For example, GM has a stake in satellite radio. So naturally, GM saw to it that
satellite radio tuners became STANDARD, in their cars, many many years ago.
Certainly by 2007 (although you're not forced to subscribe). Somehow, the fact
that the satellite tuner cost those couple of extra bucks didn't dissuade GM at
all. And yet, very few of their cars have HD Radios, even now, 13 years after
it was introduced. Explanation? Simple: greed. I don't buy the nonsense about
"saving every penny."

I agree that FM is good enough;

You mean, like VHF TV before UHF came along? Or fuzzy/grainy/ghosty/washed out
NTSC TV was "good enough"? The average joe also thought that low-fi record
players were "good enough." Now they would never go back. If you keep these
innovations squirreled away from the average joe, unless this average joe is
passionate about the technology, they'll be content with the old stuff. I'm
sure plenty of people thought that 3 TV stations were more than enough. But our
economy has not depended on spontaneous consumer demand for a long time. You
have to encourage that demand.

Why would any radio broadcaster want to go all-digital?

Because the digital signal becomes a whole lot better, if you liberate it from
the analog signal. And in the FM band at least, the broadcaster can also add
more subchannels, making his station more desirable. Chicken/egg. Sometimes the
FCC has had to be the catalyst.

The decision to use FM translators to reach a viable audience tells
us that the FM band was not being used to its maximum public benefit.

Not really. It simple tells us that the incumbents are taking that spectrum,
even while they complain bitterly about LPFM. The spectrum could be put to
better use. The AM band could be put to better use. Using FM translators
because analog AM is so pathetic makes me wonder why keep up that AM pretense
at all?

So bottom line it sounds like the current analog standards are
good enough.

In a way, yes, and you can argue that Internet radio will trump all of these
broadcast methods in the long run. But my bottom line is not what you claim.
Mine is that in the AM and FM bands, *one-way broadcast* is "good enough."
There isn't enough spectrum there to make effective use of it any other way.

Interesting. Do you ever connect your smartphone to access music
libraries or Internet streams?

No, not interested enough. My wife doesn't even want the radio on. I tend to
listen to NPR, although it would be nice to have shows on demand.

Bert



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