[BC] Kahn and Greene

[Robert Meuser]

That may well be but there is a bigger picture. With perfect 20/20 
hindsight I can now state AM stereo was an impractical proposition. It 
is for the same reason that the AM NRSC curve was a flop. In both cases 
the wider receiver pass band required to produce more fidelity brought 
with it more noise and interference. Additionally the horrid clipped top 
end heard on many stations when listening on a wide band receiver sent 
manufacturers running for the hills. As discussed previously, there are 
so many real world impairments to wideband AM that it is not a practical 
proposition. It is sad because so many of us spent so much time and 
resources trying to create the best signals possible that it would have 
been nice to see them become beneficial.
As with most things in this business we got where we are via an 
unpredictable path that grew it's own legs without really being noticed.

In the early days of radio, many factors limited most stations to around 
5 kilohertz audio response. That was especially true for those stations 
that depended on transcontinental network lines. Many radios pretty much 
matched that response so there was more or less a matched system from 
transmitter to receiver. As technology improved on the transmitter side, 
the receivers pretty much stayed the same. Some engineers figured out 
how to fudge the tuned IF circuits in the typical receivers by boosting 
the top end to get a higher frequency response. This and a gross over 
crowding of the band forced receiver manufacturers, especially in 
automobiles, to aggressively narrow the bandpass and we went down the 
slippery slope that leads to where the industry is today.

But that alone nor the over commercialization that Rich spoke of is the 
biggest threat today. The threat today is new technology. The average 
consumer wants an integrated entertainment strategy and that what the 
CES is offering. This means the number who will go out and just buy a 
radio is rapidly diminishing. It does not matter if that radio has a 
widely accepted AM stereo system or the best digital system, they are 
buying an experience and not a device. The problem for AM is that with 
the size of many personal handheld devices designing an effective AM 
antenna has become a serious issue. Many devices including the prototype 
smartphone with an FM/IBOC chip and the portable Insignia radios do not 
include AM. As these device emerge in the marketplace fewer and fewer 
potential listeners will exist. In the future, a serious rethinking of 
how to make those frequencies remain viable will be necessary.

On 6/23/12 2:57 PM, James B. Potter wrote:
> 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.