Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Stop IBOC Now!
from StopIBOC.com:
BY THE NUMBERS
As of September, 2008:
NUMBER OF US AM STATIONS: 4783
AM STATIONS OPERATING “IBOC”: 258
AM STATIONS OPERATING “IBOC” 24-7 DAY AND NIGHT: 87
(the remainer are “digital daytimers” meaning that directional antenna systems used at night will not work properly with HD. The overall figure of 258 includes a number of AM stations noted as “intermittent operation” meaning HD broadcasts may be infrequent or irregular.)
PERCENTAGE OF AM STATIONS OPERATING “IBOC”: 5%
Note: Most AM stations utilizing IBOC do not utilize the system at night. According to IBOC proponents, as of October 2007, “fewer than 100 stations” are utilizing the system because of skywave adjacent-channel interference problems (see “DROPPING LIKE FLIES,” this site.) An unknown number of AM stations using IBOC are “daytimers” meaning they have no nighttime authority under any circumstances, or are “daytimers with post-sunset authority” meaning they have very small nighttime operating power. Since IBOC utilizes only about 1/100th of AM carrier power the system would not work reliably with the usual PSSA authorized station, operating with only 5 to 50 watts, so daytimers are not candidates for nighttime use of the system.
For a running pop-count of AM stations operating IBOC, a constantly updated list including data from numerous sources: http://topazdesigns.com/iboc/station-list.html
Summer 2008: CLEAR CHANNEL STOPS NIGHT IBOC ON WRVA RICHMOND TO PROTECT CO-OWNED ADJACENT-CHANNEL STATIONS IN MIDWEST
Although radio’s biggest company (and a major investor in iBiquity), Clear Channel has moved decisively to end adjacent-channel IBOC interference emanating from its heritage flagship WRVA 1140 in Richmond, VA. CC won’t comment publicly but internal sources tell stopiboc.com that nighttime IBOC has ceased on WRVA because of destructive interference to three high-power AM stations the company owns in Detroit, Milwaukee and Minneapolis operating on adjacent 1130 kHz.
The 1130s all operate with powers between 10 and 25kw at night and utilize complex 9-tower directional arrays, and are highly impacted by the nighttime noise from Richmond.
Summer 2008: 50KW KMJ 580 FRESNO TURNS OFF IBOC
CBS, a stalwart booster of IBOC and investor in iBiquity and the HD Alliance, has stopped IBOC on legendary KMJ. No reason was given publicly.
Summer 2008: KTCT 1050 SILENCES IBOC IN SAN MATEO
The 50kw Cumulus outlet in San Mateo, CA, has stopped its IBOC operation without explanation to the public.
They’re turning off HD in Washington, DC
http://www.rbr.com/radio/12018.html
Well, this time it’s not an anomaly or a digital exciter glitch—at least not that we can see. For weeks now the Washington, DC market has been turning off its HD Radio signals en masse. There is no longer any station in the market on AM broadcasting in HD. ESPN Deportes Radio/Red Zebra’s 730 WXTR-AM long ago shut off the signal. But now that list includes 630 WMAL (Citadel); 570 WTNT (Clear Channel); Red Zebra’s 980 ESPN Radio; and 1500 WFED-AM (Bonneville). The FM list now includes 106.7 WJFK-FM (CBS Radio); 102.3 WWMJ-FM (Radio One); 104.1 WPRS-FM (Radio One) and 107.7 WWWT-FM (Bonneville).
RBR/TVBR observation: The most likely culprit is licensing fees. Just not worth it for some in tough economic times. Also, these FMs did not have HD multicast (HD2) signals, and two of them were broadcasting in mono—so what’s the point? For the AM side, unless you are 50,000 watts, most radios can’t pick up AM HD very far from the tower array. WFED is 50-kW, but you’d never know it because of its higher frequency—just doesn’t propagate well.
Well, this time it’s not an anomaly or a digital exciter glitch—at least not that we can see. For weeks now the Washington, DC market has been turning off its HD Radio signals en masse. There is no longer any station in the market on AM broadcasting in HD. ESPN Deportes Radio/Red Zebra’s 730 WXTR-AM long ago shut off the signal. But now that list includes 630 WMAL (Citadel); 570 WTNT (Clear Channel); Red Zebra’s 980 ESPN Radio; and 1500 WFED-AM (Bonneville). The FM list now includes 106.7 WJFK-FM (CBS Radio); 102.3 WWMJ-FM (Radio One); 104.1 WPRS-FM (Radio One) and 107.7 WWWT-FM (Bonneville).
RBR/TVBR observation: The most likely culprit is licensing fees. Just not worth it for some in tough economic times. Also, these FMs did not have HD multicast (HD2) signals, and two of them were broadcasting in mono—so what’s the point? For the AM side, unless you are 50,000 watts, most radios can’t pick up AM HD very far from the tower array. WFED is 50-kW, but you’d never know it because of its higher frequency—just doesn’t propagate well.
We got 2008 about half right – now for 2009
We got 2008 about half right – now for 2009
Hey, nobody said our crystal ball was without clouds. We peered into its misty interior about this time last year and jotted down what we thought we saw, and the result was a batting average of somewhere around .500. That’s good enough to guarantee instant enshrinement in baseball’s Hall of Fame, but if we posted the same .500 on our first grade exam results, we’d be looking at repeating that grade again. Since we aren’t about to do that, we’ll be content to audaciously repeat our attempt at prognostication again for 2009. Read them, if you dare.
(...)
* HD Radio licenses will not be renewed with many broadcasters.
(...)
Hey, nobody said our crystal ball was without clouds. We peered into its misty interior about this time last year and jotted down what we thought we saw, and the result was a batting average of somewhere around .500. That’s good enough to guarantee instant enshrinement in baseball’s Hall of Fame, but if we posted the same .500 on our first grade exam results, we’d be looking at repeating that grade again. Since we aren’t about to do that, we’ll be content to audaciously repeat our attempt at prognostication again for 2009. Read them, if you dare.
(...)
* HD Radio licenses will not be renewed with many broadcasters.
(...)
Cap-Ex Will Be Taut in '09
Cap-Ex Will Be Taut in '09
by Randy J. Stine, 12.30.2008
Corporate radio engineering managers acknowledge that this fall's capital budgeting process for 2009 was especially tough as revenue and cash flow dip and as credit for projects and purchases has become more difficult to obtain.
Faced with another year of economic uncertainty and now, officially, a full-blown recession, broadcasters are being forced to prioritize capital spending on equipment and facility buildouts, industry insiders say.
Even broadcast equipment manufacturers and suppliers — who as a group tend to use optimistic language whenever describing the state of their business — believe spending by stations is likely to be very conservative in 2009. The impact will be felt in HD Radio deployments and large RF projects, some experts believe.
by Randy J. Stine, 12.30.2008
Corporate radio engineering managers acknowledge that this fall's capital budgeting process for 2009 was especially tough as revenue and cash flow dip and as credit for projects and purchases has become more difficult to obtain.
Faced with another year of economic uncertainty and now, officially, a full-blown recession, broadcasters are being forced to prioritize capital spending on equipment and facility buildouts, industry insiders say.
Even broadcast equipment manufacturers and suppliers — who as a group tend to use optimistic language whenever describing the state of their business — believe spending by stations is likely to be very conservative in 2009. The impact will be felt in HD Radio deployments and large RF projects, some experts believe.
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