> I think there's a significant and compelling business case to be made > for many, if not most, AM stations to avoid using IBOC. You've certainly > made that case, successfully, to your clients. That's likely, I think, > to mean the AM IBOC system isn't going to take off in the long run. (And > it belies, to an extent, the "great business conspiracy" theories being > promoted elsewhere in the thread; if the system is as great a failure as > predicted, the business case for abandoning it will be an easy one to > make.)
Just to finish my side of the thread.. If most AM stations avoid IBOC, then it will never make the transition to all digital, short of some governmental edict. That in itself is unlikely due to many factors. So, if only a few are running this temporary "transition" phase, they will interfere with others and cause a reduction of coverage. Then all the points I made are valid. Potential lawsuits, IBOC stations becoming the skunk in the woods, the whole nine yards. It cannot stay in transition mode forever. IBOC is meant to be an all or nothing scenario. The bare minimum transitional coverage on both AM and FM will do nothing at all to promote it. Quite the opposite. The cutting edge Joe/Jane Average will in many cases simply return the "defective" radios, and then tell their friends. And it will end up on the same shelf as Quad and AM Stereo. At least those two formats were innocuous. I suppose the core error made here is iBiquity expecting that eventually all AM and FM would be digital only. Ain't gonna happen. To be clear, I truly believe a move to digital transmission is highly desireable. I have been a huge proponent of streaming, and wait anxiously for WiFi-enabled iPod devices that can receive it. Analog will probably fade slowly over some number of decades. If the RIAA/ASCAP/BMI/SESAC/AFTRA hadn't attacked streaming with such intensity it might have been a different ball game already. I am very glad to see legal action taken against the RIAA on their RICO-type activities. Maybe streaming will again have a chance and they will end up leaving radio alone. I am done. If I post again about IBOC in the near future, please send a cream pie at high velocity in my direction. Craig Healy Providence, RI _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
