ABC CITADEL AM STATIONS SUSPEND NIGHTTIME IBOC

[Play Freebird]

What a shock!  How could there be a problem?  After all, we've been told repeatedly that:

1)  The AM IBOC signal not only complies with, but exceeds the requirements of the emissions "mask".

2)  Nighttime AM digital operation was heartily endorsed by the NAB, and they certainly know what's best for broadcasters.

3)  The NRSC also gave their blessing!

4)  The FCC authorized AM IBOC  -- it's the Law of the Land!

5)  Nobody listens to skywave any more (except DX-ers, but they don't count)

6)  The train has already left the station.

7)  Receivers are flying off the shelves and we need to be ready!

So this must be an unsubstantiated rumour, just more nonsense from those anti-HD crazies....

[JohnnyElectron]

This is a half-true rumor.

WJR has ceased all night-time IBOC for the past several nights and was off part of the day on Saturday and part of Sunday.
However,
WJR has resumed daytime IBOC only, and was still IBOC as of Noon today.

[paul vincent zecchino]

  Isn't this a good start? Good riddance to bad cess. No combination of receivers, filters, modes, antennas and expertise eliminates iBLOC jamming. HD jams all, both in time and frequency. Isn't that what KronyKasters hoped would jam competitors ruin, listeners into submission, so as to take control of radio?

 Some reports say iNiquity will perform further work on HD to reduce night jamming. Work? How can more work straighten that which is intrinsically bent?

 What's wrong with them? TV is an appliance. Radio is personal. Listeners won't discard analog sets for HD. They say there's nothing in it for them. And yes, despite absurd, vehement, overblown denials, citizens know jamming when they hear it.

 Radio is theater of the mind. That means, KronyKasters, hire back the talent you so callously fired during your gluttonous 90s buying binge. Perhaps they'll still have you. Air compelling programs. Listeners may yet return.

 More 'work' on iBLOC? Let's look at it. HD falsely claims you can stuff fifty pounds of hissing, wet, doggy steam-dump into ten pound bags. Not only will bags not burst, they'll gain irresistable cachet. But the bags broke, didn't they? Consumers' carpets bear unsightly stains. They're miffed by your jamming, and they don't wonder why you persist.

 Fix what? The HD gang pig-sawed digital 'wings' onto good clean analog signals. The problem wasn't modulation. It was content - or lack thereof. How to fix this mess? Chop off the digital pig-wings? Where will you put them?

 Does the Slagheap of Radio History seems a fitting venue?  Note to BigRadio: You used all means to gain your ends. As always, the inevitable occurred. Didn't many whom you so rudely dismissed, advise you thusly? You've had your "Top o' The World, Ma!" moment.
 
  Turn it off. Cut your losses. Serve the public interest. Better to save face now, than linger in the public's ear, like a noisy dingbat barnfly, so as to earn their permanent apathy.

 Dr. Paul Vincent Zecchino
 Manasota Key, Florida
 02 October, 2007

[Savage]

Sorry to correct you Johnny, but it's not half-true and it's not a rumour.  See the home page lead story, this site.

[The Dude]

Excellent news!  Maybe they're figuring out what a mess this could be

Yes i suppose they are.....

[dumber than a box of hair]

This is a half-true rumor.

The news release I saw said that Citadel is ordering HD off the air nighttime only.  I don't see Citadel ordering any restrictions to using it during the daytime.

Every engineer I knew said repeatedly, before the 9/14 effective date for nighttime operation, that whether or not nighttime HD really works would be proven in the next few months, as more stations turn it on at night.  The postings I've seen stating that many stations have it on intermittently shows me that they're experimenting.  Citadel is most likely dealing with, at least, two of their stations engaging in "mutually assured destruction" (WJR and WABC on first adjacents to each other) at night, so this is not a complete surprise.  It also wouldn't surprise me if CBS follows suit, seeing that they have three stations within 20 kHz of each other (WINS, KDKA and WBZ).

[musiconradio.com]

So I guess the question is in 5 years when HD on FM goes mainstream or not(Just a guess) does AM just quietly fade into the sunset. Yes I love to DX too, but with more talk shows moving to FM, and AM quality getting worse, it is getting harder to be loyal to the AM band. For those who who are glad that nightime HD has been tabled, what solutions do you propose to clean up nighttime IBOC.

[DavidEduardo]

So I guess the question is in 5 years when HD on FM goes mainstream or not(Just a guess) does AM just quietly fade into the sunset. Yes I love to DX too, but with more talk shows moving to FM, and AM quality getting worse, it is getting harder to be loyal to the AM band. For those who who are glad that nightime HD has been tabled, what solutions do you propose to clean up nighttime IBOC.

Well, yesterday we saw a sports AM in Detroit migrate to FM, so as this trend picks up, motivated by attracting more salable demos, AM will be left with religious, niche and ethnic stations.

If the night problems with HD are not resolved, many owners wo were hoping for an AM resurgence will be more motivated to sell and dedicate efforts to FM and newer media. It does not bode well for AM.

[clouseau]

Good riddance to bad cess....
...iBLOC jamming.
...HD jams all
...KronyKasters
...iNiquity
...night jamming.
...absurd
...vehement
...overblown
...jamming
...KronyKasters
...gluttonous 90s
...iBLOC?
...doggy steam-dump
...unsightly stains.
...jamming,
...HD gang pig-sawed digital
...digital pig-wings?
...Slagheap of Radio History
...noisy dingbat barnfly,

 Dr. Paul Vincent Zecchino
 Manasota Key, Florida
 02 October, 2007

Hey Dr. Z!!!

We missed you.  Nice to know that when there is MAYBE a time for sensible discussion you continue to be....  Well YOU!

And people think there are no constants in the air.

Clouseau

[paul vincent zecchino]

  Dear Clouseau -
 
    I know what I wrote. It's putrid, churlish, adolescent, not to mention bilious, disjoint, rambling, and as well, crepuscular. Without fail, the drivel I belch-up never fails to horrify me upon subsequent readings. So, uh, why you parrot selected silly words?

  Is that the best you can do? Aw, you need to get more fun out of life. Go HD!


 'Within five years, people won't ask for an HD radio, sez an iBLOC cheasze, 'all radios will be HD'. Wow! Whew! Mustn't judge too harshly, though, at least he has it half right!

                                                good health to all,

                                                  Dr. Zecchino

P.V. Zecchino, T.D.
Manasota Key, Florida
02 October, 2007