I find this entire discussion to be quite interesting, especially the 180
degree time warp that Bert seems to be in. On one hand, Bert is promoting HD
broadcasting in the AM band, while for TV he suggests simply moving on and
relying on the Internet instead of broadcasting.
In truth, radio broadcasters are much further along than their TV brethren with
the transition to FOTI broadcasts. I attribute this to resolution of the core
issue that is slowing down the TV broadcasters - obtaining the Internet rights.
Radio broadcasters faced two challenges here.
For music stations it was the royalties that the music oligopoly wanted for
each "play" over the Internet. Eventually this was worked out, in large part
due to the pressure that Pandora, Spotify and other streaming services applied
to the Copyright Royalty Board. Things could change again when the CRB releases
the royalty rates for the period from 2016 to 2020; Sound Exchange, the
government body that collects and distributes the royalties is asking for a 79%
increase in royalty rates for non interactive services, while the webcasters
are asking for a reduction in royalty rates. The new rates will be published in
December.
The second challenge was with popular radio programming, especially in the talk
radio genre. Here the most popular shows tried to control the streaming rights
and sell subscriptions to their content, not unlike what CBS is doing with
their All Access TV service. But the number of subscriptions sold was not
sufficient, when compared to the size of potential streaming audience, and the
corresponding value to advertisers.
Bottom line, now many radio stations are simulcasting FOTI. Unfortunately, it
looks like it could be a very long time, if ever, before TV broadcasters will
get the rights to simulcast FOTI.
Cliff, and others, seem to like the ability of the AM signal to reach a very
large regional or national audience. Unfortunately, this capability seems to
appeal mostly to RF hobbyists. The Internet is becoming the long wave
distribution system of the future. Why try to tune into a distant radio
station, when you can just stream from their website?
Bert loves to talk about WWITV and all the International sources of content
they offer. So it is a mystery why he does not suggest the same for the future
of radio.
Regards
Craig
Regards
Craig
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