Rush Limbaugh breathed another 25 years into AM radio, but time is running out. Other than getting rid of Rush, the FCC can’t agree on how to “save” a technology whose time has come and gone. The FCC’s Republican member with the [asian] Indian roots particularly wants to save it. Mignon Clyburn opined that FM radio was a bad thing during her brief usurpation of the job of FCC chairperson.
The FCC solicited comments on changes on ways to improve AM Radio. The technical problems include
– analog AM is subject to static from lightning
– towers are very expensive to maintain, especially directional ones
– hybrid HDRadio doesn’t work well and few receivers can hear it
– background noises like computers drown out weak signals
– reflection off the ionosphere makes nighttime operation problematic, including stray medium wave signals from Europe in the Eastern US
– propagation works poorly above 1450 kHz
http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/proceeding/view?name=13-249
So what do various factions want? I’ll try to summarize each in a sentence
First, the actual FCC proposals, some of which are very technical and arcane
– allow AM stations to cut to the front of the line to get FM translators before those goddamn commie LPFM stations destroy commercial radio
– allow AM stations to cover only a portion of their licensed community (for example, South Side of Chicago)
– allow AM stations at night to not fully cover their entire community (ibid)
– getting rid of a rule protecting legacy AM stations from smaller stations that want improve their transmitters
– allow a new technology that reduces power consumption
– allow much shorter antennas even though they use waste electricity
NAB – we want a new online video service! And yes, we still love AM radio!
National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters – we agree with everything the Minority Media Telecommunicatuns Council (MMTC) and Mignon Clyburn wants,
Puerto Rico – stop stalling on allowing synchronous AM translators!
IHeart (Clear Channel) save AM programming but kill AM transmitters – and chase down unauthorized people claiming Title 15 protection!
Kintronics – force all new AM radios to use our superior patented technologies! And AM Stereo!
Prometheus Project (LPFM advocates) – you and the NAB are lying bastards and can go to hell, or Puerto Rico
Texas Association of broadcasters – here are some down to earth realistic suggestions. Consider the AM technology used in Egypt
NPR – stop fining us if someone fucking swears on live radio
Chuck Harder – I’m still alive no thanks to you fucking idiots
iBiquity (HDRadio) – force stations to use our patented technology
Business as usual!
Holy Cow !
> ,,,”– reflection off the ionosphere makes nighttime operation problematic,”
Dam, I thought that was a ‘Bonus’ ! I like catching the ‘skip’. LOL
” analog AM is subject to static from lightning”
Duh. Non-issue, it is what it is. You are lower on the frequency spectrum, WTF did they expect?
You know a storm is on the way or nearby. You can pick up lightning way before you hear the thunder. Heck you can hear it on a bunch different bands.
who are these clowns and how the hell they get this job?
Parrott
Just to be clear, the list of inherent problems was from me, not the FCC 😉
AM radio was a revolution in the 1920s and the 1930s, bringing together a national audience in near real time that newspapers and movies could never do – but the physics of AM radio are what they are.
The layout of Class A,B, and C licenses was done in 1928 to protect the patent holders of the technology – RCA, GE and Westinghouse. Especially now that all radio stations can stream, the idea of protecting KDKA for a 750 mile radius after the sun goes down means your local AM station is relegated to running 15 watts on another frequency, which can be heard for maybe 500 feet.
Oh, oops. Sorry (wipes egg off face)
parrott
Parrott, actually I also view those two aspects to be a beneficial ‘feature’ of AM: The skip/bounce is a saving grace for listeners in remote areas; and static from lightning is like having an advanced storm warning system from 60-600 miles.
Question: Did anybody propose -lower- fees and fines for operating a radio station?
I was on the inside when LPFM was first proposed, it’s been mutilated for 10+ years.
Technical excuses aside, mainstream controllers and social-engineers decided that too many initial license applications were coming from ‘undesirables’ (e.g. patriots/preps, Christian Identity, Black Nationalists, and other ‘dangerous’ fringe groups du jour).
So, over the ensuing years from 2000-12, FTC (Congress) instituted rules (stumbling blocks) in the guise of “Local Community Radio” Acts, such as: requiring EAS/CAP decoders, withdrew the applicant lottery, extended “petitions for denial”, and other tribal tactics to ensure the original intent was snuffed. The NAB & NPR celebrated.
Gee, I wish you had spoken up sooner – I mention LPFM a lot, but figured nobody knew or cared. The Promethius project is exactly correct that the provision to hand out free FM translators to existing AM stations is a deliberate strategy to freeze out LPFM.
Requiring LPFM to be non-commercial also destroys any chance of economic viability. Many blatantly break the rules. Requiring LPFM stations to have EAS gear was another tactic by the NAB folks. LPFM stations are not required to be on the air all the time – what is the point to an EAS device on a powered down transmitter?
Unfortunately the Primethius project is virulently against “for profit” radio, so they support keeping LPFM out of the control of people who might sell ads to Mom & Pop’s Burger Barn. Altruism to your community only goes so far. Most people need an income.
LPFM was intended to be a very local concept. The rules have eroded that now probably half of the licenses are nothing more than satellite repeaters for EWTN catholic radio and the two Seventh Day Adventist religious teaching networks (3ABN and lifetalk) with little or no local content.
Yes, I know you have mentioned it in the past, but LFPM is a real sore spot with me and only elevates my blood pressure.
You see, I had applied for a license in Phoenix (great location) back in 2000-01… then a biz associate told me “word from the top was LPFM would not be allowed to fly in its current form.”
So I watched as my application was shelved, the rules were changed, and an idea with great potential was turned into yet another allocation for ‘communisty’ services and diversity.
It’s no mistake that mainstream Christian organizations have been favored… i.e. better the devil they know (and control).
EAS was bad enough, but in 2012 the FCC changed the rules to require CAP, which meant more equipment AND an internet connection so FEMA and fuehrer Obama can ‘text’ the volk.
The movie “They Live” sums it up for me.
I just went through the crop of new licensees. I don’t remember any of them being as left wing as the original batch (ACORN, Latinos who want to kill all Anglos inc, Blacks United For Reperations, etc)
A growing area of licenses (not just LPFM) are being issued to Spanish Language religious organizations (when Mexicans cross the border they tend to be attracted to charismatic Protestant denominations, to the consternation of their Catholic “sanctuary” sponsors). Hugh Hewitt’s remark that Rick Warren’s churches should take the unaccompanied children crossing the border away from their parents and raise them as orphans within the churches is a real opinion
These stations either are not actually on the air or rely on word of mouth. They are typically registered to a house in a residential neighborhood with no visibility on the web at all. Very mysterious
Yeah, the original group of applicants were a more eclectic cross-section. 😉 My plan was more along the lines of your example of cost-efficient neighborhood advertising for ‘Mom & Pop Burgers’ along with radio content best described as “Barry Goldwater meets with The Black Avenger to discuss the future of America.”
With regard to the Spanish language religious stations, it helps to understand that many of the illegals are OTM (other than Mexicans), with a strong Central American ethnic blend (Inca, Mayan, Aztec). i.e. They may speak Spanish, but tend to eschew -pure- Catholicism. Think in terms of Santeria, Voodoo, and other similar faith systems and you’ll understand why that demographic leans towards ‘charismatics’…
Does this mean we should expect more Chupacabra sightings?
According to YouTube, there seems to be a significant increase of sightings in the southwestern U.S. in recent years. 🙂
Sounds like my kind of movie. But doesn’t that mean They made the movie?
‘They’ suppressed it… too many euphemisms as to who/what the aliens represented in actuality. As I recall, the movie was pulled from theaters within a week of debut. Lots of interesting factoids about the production, release, etc. It was based on a 1963 short story: “Eight O’clock in the Morning”
God’s chosen people?
Ah, Rolling Stone gave me the real answer
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/how-they-live-took-on-the-republicans-and-won-20141027?page=3
LOL… the fact that Rolling Stone did a hit piece ~ 30 years later to RE-misinterpret the movie (and director) says a lot.
I notice that RS failed to mention when ‘Nada’ goes to a construction site looking for work, he’s told “this is a union job”…
I read the short story. The comment section at rolling stone has a post from the guy who morphed the short story (he says the lizards were communists) into a longer version, then the movie rewrote the premise yet again.
My thought after the first line was lizards were a hypnotic suggestion planted in his brain.
Somewhat related, Barbara Boxer is retiring and Nancy Pelosi cried