Why am I not surprised

NPR and iBiquity have come to an agreement to screw the rest of us out of radio spectrum with a fourfold increase in HD RadioTM power levels. Here comes the interference.

But hey, it’s the future, that digital stuff, because it’s better.  And if you are not on board, then you are a narrow-minded backward thinker not worthy of consideration.

The funny thing is, all of the bells and whistles and whiz-bang digital do-dads, Ipod song titles, and fancy acronyms do not add up to a nano fart.  If there is nothing compelling listeners to buy the HD Radios,TM it is a dead technology.  Here is a news flash, when it comes to radio listenership,

IT’S THE PROGRAMMING, STUPID.

That has to be fixed, then the other stuff will start to make sense.

What do I know?  I’m going to go have a cold beer and put my feet up.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

4 thoughts on “Why am I not surprised”

  1. Iboc was dead in much the same way before it ever was on the air: radio is king of self inflicted problems, while ibiquity is the only winner here.

    Don’t forget there’s also a licensing fee built into the the cost of the receiver which the consumer pays: A privately held modulation standard benefits nobody but ibiquity.

  2. Regarding the licensing fees, the general public may be dumb, but they are not stupid, which is why there is no big rush to get HD radio receivers.

  3. “NPR’s war on Low Power FM”

    “NPR opposes proposals to strengthen rules allowing LPFMs to obtain channel interference waivers when an encroaching full power station arrives on the scene. And the broadcaster decidedly dislikes measures that would require new full power signals to offer technical and even financial help to an LPFM that they’ve suddenly squatted on (or squatted next to). This is a serious issue, because over the last decade the NPR service has expanded from 635 to 800 affiliated stations. Public radio’s stance on this puts it at odds with practically every media reform group in the country.”

    http://tinyurl.com/ybgpt9p

    “Media Access Project”

    “Specifically, PRP stated that the results of the NPR Labs Advanced IBOC Coverage and Compatibility Study do not support a blanket increase in digital power… Further, because of the demonstrated potential for interference to analog signals, PRP suggested that stations requesting a power increase should be required to submit a showing that first adjacent channel interference is unlikely to occur. Finally, PRP noted that testing thus far has failed to take into account the impact on LPFMs”.

    http://tinyurl.com/ycbaqu2

    I knew nothing about NPR’s war on LPFM’s, until now, so it makes sense that NPR’s bogus tests failed to take into account the affects on LPFM’s, as MAP pointed out. NPR is also flipping some of its HD stations to talk, moving classic to HD2s, partly in an attempt to force listeners to buy cheesy HD radios, that don’t really work. I hope that with the recent support from the FCC and Congress for LPFMs that SOMEONE will finally blow the whistle on the NAB/iBiquity/FCC relationships. HD Radio/IBOC is nothing but a spectrum-grab by iBiquity and the larger broadcasters, who are investors in iBiquity.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *