[BC] Kahn and Greene

[Rich Wood]

------ At 12:05 AM 6/23/2012, James B. Potter wrote: -------

>As I vaguely remember, at the time there were at least three competing AM
>stereo systems, the Kahn, Motorola's, and somebody else.

Initially, there were five. Kahn, Motorola, Magnavox (initially
selected by the FCC) and, I believe, Harris and Belar. Motorola had
political clout and, as expected, won. Just before the FCC caved to
Motorola there were Kahn, Motorola and Harris. I have both the Sony
portable and the Walkman-style receivers that decoded all three
systems - some better than others.

>So some station owners I knew followed the circus and said a pox on
>his house and wouldn't even consider it stereo if it had to be the Kahn
>unit.

That sounds smart. What if the FM stereo folks hadn't played well
with others? Would stations still be mono? It's broadcaster's
attitudes like that and the FCC's political decisions that screw the industry.

>   Besides, stereo wasn't really catching on anyway, as music was
>migrating to FM and sports and news talk were taking over AM.  I remember
>when KYW 1060 Philly started promoting stereo. I thought to myself: news in
>stereo? Who cares?  And that's where it rested.

Actually, news, sports and talk can benefit from stereo. Newscasters
(multiple hosts), actualities and talk show hosts and guests sound
better when spread across the stereo image. I remember convincing the
President of Mutual that football should be done in stereo. He
agreed. It was about to happen when the network was sold. The idea died.

Let's go back to mono TV sports and see how much is missing. Games
are much more lifelike in stereo - even more so in 5.1.

Rich