[BC] HD Receivers

[Steve Newman]

For me...I emphasize..FOR ME....since I lean more toward programming, these 
last 3 posts have said it best. I'm going to guess that most of you are 
broadcast engineers more than you are programmers or content providers, 
right? Well, I commend all of you for a great job of presenting this hot 
subject. Stan, this cutting of the bandwidth has driven me crazy ever since 
it started. I asked about this once in this group and I believe it was Barry 
(not sure) who said the loudness races (our faults) caused listeners to 
complain and the manufacturers of car radios narrowed the bandwidth to help 
attenuate the sideband splatter brought about by the excessive EQ and 
processing. Have I stated it correctly? I was right in the middle of that 
mess in the 70's and 80's when the AM's were playing the loudness games. 
What I didn't realize is that I missed the whole story behind the bandwidth 
reduction. A shame, because I owned some cars where the AM sounded almost as 
good as the FM. Anyway, my compliments to all three of you for great posts.

Steve Newman
Steve Walker Productions
Opp, Alabama

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stan Tacker" <stacker at krvt.com>
To: "'Broadcasters' Mailing List'" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 12:05 AM
Subject: RE: [BC] HD Receivers


> Doug and Dave both make valid points.
>
> This has been said so many times that it sounds tired.  But, good radio is
> all about content.  Not the delivery system.
>
> Just as "topicality" was the buzzword years prior to consolidation, "make 
> it
> local" should be the mantra of today.  Making it local doesn't mean a 
> return
> to local hayseed radio, but integrating the station into the listener
> community.  Notice I didn't say "the community."  Our signals reach far
> beyond geographic boundaries.
>
> Radio is not a one way street.  Listeners want to communicate.  Real local
> radio is a two way exchange.  Good local radio is "call and response."
>
> You can voice track all day, localizing every bit until you have worn out
> every community calendar in your possession, but unless the listener has 
> the
> opportunity to reach back to a real person, your good efforts are never
> going to realize their maximum potential.
>
> My company has an emphasis on AM.  Music on AM at that. We are working a
> niche market that sells and we are doing well.
>
> Frankly I'm tired of the fidelity of receivers in the marketplace 
> dictating
> the perceived quality of AM. In fact, the latest NRSC report on AM 
> bandwidth
> presupposes that most receivers in the market cannot receive the 10 kHz
> audio that most (but the IBOC) signals transmit.  Based on that, they
> suggest that bandwidth of AM stations should be further reduced. Wait a
> minute.  When did the cart overtake the horse?  Why should we compromise a
> viable transmission system because receiver manufacturers don't want to
> spend a few cents more per receiver for better fidelity?
>
> AM has its limitations.  FM has its limitations.  Neither are dead by any
> stretch of the imagination.  Terrestrial radio can do what satellite radio
> cannot yet do.  Touch the local community.   Again, I hate to say it, but
> its all about content--not the delivery mechanism.
>
> Stan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net
> [mailto:broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of Dave Dunsmoor
> Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 9:15 PM
> To: Broadcasters' Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [BC] HD Receivers
>
> ---Dang fat fingers ... anyway, back to what I was saying---
>
> Putting radio through a newer shinier pipe will do nothing but make money
> for the
> pipe salesmen. Improving fidelity won't make any serious money today like 
> it
> did
> many years ago, but changing the information sent (the content) provided 
> by
> the
> old pipe will.
>
> Here's how I see radio (AM radio specifically) making money by the
> bucketfull
> even as iPods and such things as that take over the "HI-FI" entertainment
> world.
>
> AM radio covers much area, and people are traveling ALL the time. Sell to
> the
> folks that are out on the road. Don't drop your usual sales, but target 
> the
> folks
> who are driving through town, or through your state going to see grandma 
> or
> making their business calls on the road.
>
> I see lots of opportunities for radio to clean up it's act in this regard.
> The standard
> announcer's line is invariably the voice talking to themselves. You want 
> an
> announcer who is talking to everyone out there who doesn't know just where
> the best fast restaurant is, where the hospital is, where the tornado is 
> in
> relationship
> to them (as the clouds close in on them in an unfamiliar area), and so on.
> Give some
> long distance information to people who are in the area for a short time,
> and have
> just found your place on the dial. Sell the local business to the people 
> who
> are here
> once, or maybe a hundred times, but to limit the jock banter and spots to
> only the
> "locals" is missing a bunch of folks in my view.
>
> I do a lot of driving, and FM is ok for local listening, but AM could 
> easily
> be far better
> utilized without dropping any of the "local" sales commercials. Often I 
> stop
> for fuel or
> food where I find the first convenience store, then am back on my way. If 
> I
> heard
> some reason to drive into town for a car stop, then I'll most likely buy
> more than
> just fuel and a sandwich. If I hear weather reports that are 
> understandable
> to me
> as a tourist instead of a local, AND that this information is sponsored by
> some local
> business, that's useful. Maybe not right then, but on a later trip 
> perhaps.
>
> That's what I think, anyway. So you've got a nice new transmitter (but one
> that covers
> up the  neighboring channels), who cares? But if you're providing more
> useful information
> to more folks with the old system, that sounds like a money maker to me.
>
> I'm not a sales expert, so I don't know it this'll work, but from a
> listener's perspective,
> it will.
>
>
> Dave Dunsmoor
>
>> Dave, think of it this way. HD represents a conduit to the masses. HD,
>> in this case, is a large, highly polished tube or pipe made from the
>> most expensive, resilient, and reliable metal to be found. Why, the sun
>> shining on this conduit could put your eyes out, it's so pretty. Now,
>> what do you send through the pipe? Entertaining and compelling content,
>> or the same old crap that passes for programming these days? If the
>> answer is the former, you may have a media revolution with lasting
>> benefits, new listeners and advertisers. But if you send through the
>> latter, (the same old crap) then all you have, in reality,  is a
>> glorified sewage pipe spewing forth the same old garbage.
>>
>> -- 
>> Douglas B. Pritchett
>> Fort Wayne, IN (really, don't laugh)
>> wbzq1300 at verizon.net
>>
>>
>> My friend Dave Dunsmoor wrote:
>>
>> > And my $0.25 garage sale special Panasonic pocket radio picks up
>> >
>> >stations 100 + miles distant, down in my basement......
>> >
>> >I guess I'm missing the all important "big HD picture" here. $150-300
>> >is better spent in this case how?
>
>
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