[BC] Kahn and Greene

[James B. Potter]

OK, ok, easy does it everybody.   

>From Rich: "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.... 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."

To me, it all depends on the receivers many or most of the listeners are
using.  They range anywhere from a $13 Radio Shack portable to a full-boat
'home entertainment center' with surround sound.  When I put my station
management hat on and consider commercials and jocks, I aim for the lower
end of the radio cost spectrum.  Many listeners I know -- particularly in
Classic Country genre in the West -- listen to beat-up old radios in the
dashboards of beat-up old pickup trucks, or $10 clock radios on some persons
desk at work.  For these folks, AM stereo is a complete waste and
unnoticeable.  I work in a station group now that is heavily into baseball
and other sports carried on most of our stations.  I have NEVER seen dual
microphones at any of our remotes, and some of those statia are world-class.
Of course, I'm not working for one of those super- mega-conglomerates that
has more engineering budget than God; we do a lot of 'do with and do
without' at my venue. The owner would never go for two mics when one would
do.

Curious: is pro golf broadcast in stereo?  I'm really asking, because I
don't know.  But when I watch PGA and Masters at my in-law's house on their
pretty spiffy entertainment center with speakers all around, I don't detect
any noticeable stereo phenomena akin to the train passing from
left-to-right, etc.  All I ever hear is the announcer whispering into his
headphone mic and mild applause from the assembled multitude when the guy
sinks the putt. Where is all this stereo in sports? Inquiring Minds wanna
know.

I remain strong in my conviction: For a guy sitting in front of a mic
reading news copy and playing actualities of the nearby warehouse fire, AM
stereo sans music is a completely wasted investment, better off never made.

Regards/Jim Potter