[BC] The usefulness of digital radio

[Robert Meuser]

On 6/27/12 1:05 PM, Steve Schoon wrote:
>
>> Consumers tend to purchase complete solutions rather than individual items these days so radio receiver sales are ultimately doomed.
> SS> The conventional wisdom is that younger demographic groups will get
> smartphones, while the older "talk radio" audiences will still want a radio
> that is just a radio, thankyouverymuch.  Over time the smartphone
> demographic will become the older demographic, but that will happen slowly
> enough for most of us broadcasters to retire before then.  Your thoughts?
I think this is an evolutionary thing and I also believe that no one can 
accurately predict where things will go. That said, we should not get 
fixated on smartphones because something we can not fathom will replace 
them as well. The main place to focus is human nature. There are many 
people in older demographics who are compelled to communicate. They have 
email lists where they post newsletters and some blog. A smartphone for 
that group is an extension of their ability to communicate. I am not a 
sociology guru but my guess is that the threshold age for those who are 
technology adverse could be north of 75 at this point.

>
>> So this is the logical direction broadcasting has to take, integration into a listener's total experience by being a bidirectional interactive medium. If this comes to pass it is a major game changer. Programmers will have the ability to not only measure each individual user listening habits but due to linkage to social media they will have more demographic information than was ever possible in the past.
> SS>  Also a great way to mess things up.  Interactive radio listening could
> become a tool for short-sighted broadcasters to flood a listener's
> smartphone with annoying content, such as pop-ups.  In today's short-sighted
> maximize-the-next-quarter's-profits-at-all-costs mindset, it will be very
> easy for broadcasters to shoot themselves in the foot.

We have that with the Internet now. In the last two days it has been 
reported in the news that certain Internet sites offer Mac users higher 
priced options first than what is offered to PC users.

>
>> On the technical side of things the most important technology needed right now is a better means of maintaining perfect time alignment between analog and digital program streams at all times.
> SS> Agreed.  Best to not drive away what few HD listeners you may have.  But
> I don't see how a smartphone could reliably receive HD signals that are
> already -14 dB down, at best.  I doubt that smartphone FM sensitivity will
> be any better than that of a Walkman.  Unless you're burning a hole in the
> ether, you're not a player in the smartphone receiver market.  What, if
> anything, do you think HD Radio's role will be in the coming smartphone
> listening world?
I do  not know. The prototype I demoed was at the Las Vegas convention 
center near a window. It got a lot of digital stations but they were 
probably all 70 or even 80 dbu. That said, the models used to ascertain 
acceptable AM or FM coverage are many decades old and should be revisited.

>
>> Another interesting point to consider is the the future of AM being part of the evolution is murky. One major technical problem is that development of
>> an antenna that can fit in a smartphone is difficult.
> SS> Given the challenges of receiving FM on a smartphone, I expect that
> receiving AM will be much worse.  Unless you have a 50 kW blowtorch just
> outside of town, I doubt that AM's will be able to play in the smartphone
> radio game.  As that demographic ages, this will likely kill off AM, except
> for the blowtorch stations, at best.  Your thoughts?
I do not think blowtorches are exempt. I did a dial scan yesterday for 
NYC. All but one major station is either on a digital subchannel or 
simulcast on FM. I think AM stations will ride the storm as long as they 
can make money. Everybody has at least one AM receiver so it is a 
lifestyle choice of whether one chooses to do destination listening 
(turn on a plain old radio receiver) or chooses to have a more 
integrated experience. This is really a content issue. The frequencies 
are valuable as they easily accommodate wide area coverage. It is a 
question of how to make it work with modern technology. I think at some 
point stations owned by large groups might go digital only and wait for 
the market to catch up. The operating cost is slightly more than the 
power bill. This is a problem that should be top of mind but how it 
plays out is anyone's guess. Stuff happens when it is least expected. 
Looking at Germany is insightful. After WWII they lost many of their AM 
frequencies. As a result they were one of the first countries to do a 
large scale FM deployment. Their broadcast system has been predominately 
FM for almost 60 years but there are still some major MW and LW stations 
operating at high power ( much greater than 50 KW) today.

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