Hey...c'mon and level with us. Are you actually Oscar posting under an assumed handle?
Posted on 12/30/2006 9:02:48 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Radio broadcasts on medium wave will end within a few years if a powerful coalition of commercial radio interests has its way.
Ofcom, commercial radio's regulatory body, will launch a debate in the coming months on the future of radio.
Many predict that it will result in the end of AM broadcasts as we have known them since the days of the Home Service and Light Programme.
The growth of digital broadcasts, either on radio, over the internet or through digital television, has left commercial AM broadcasts with only 3.8 per cent of the national audience this year.
While the BBC remains on the sidelines — the vast bulk of its weekly Radio Five Live audience of 5.7 million still listens on AM — leading figures in the commercial sector are determined to sound the death knell of medium wave.
The commercial stations are having to face up to the dwindling numbers tuning in to AM stations as people opt for FM broadcasts or, increasingly, the higher quality of digital broadcasts.
"The current AM licences are up for renewal in 2011 and 2012," an Ofcom spokesman said yesterday. "The question we have to address is whether or not these stations will be commercially viable by then."
Fru Hazlitt, the chief executive of Virgin Radio, is an outspoken critic of AM.
"We pay huge amounts of money to Ofcom for the AM licence," she said. "Within the next year or two we should switch it off. It just isn't worth it."
Andy Duncan, the chief executive of Channel 4, predicted that, over the next five to 10 years, AM and FM listening would wither away.
Capital Radio bosses have also been calling on the Government to set a date to switch off both AM and FM.
Not everyone agrees, however, that AM is a dead duck. Emap, whose Magic AM has been relaunched nationwide, believes there is still a place for medium wave.
Ofcom said it hoped to begin a wide consultation over the future of AM.
"There could be much more effective uses for this spectrum — it could be used for community radio," the spokesman said. "The growth of digital at the cost of analogue cannot be ignored."
Nothing quite like a closed mind.
What does the sign on your door say, "out to lunch", "gone fishing" or "I already know everything and need no input that I would be uncomfortable with"
I'm surprised you're not already a liberal. I like to take in a lot of information from as many sources as possible and I am not offended by Rush or anyone else.
Seems like you slammed the door shut on your world and want it to stay just the way you have decided it is. I'll probably get that way in a few years, I'm in my mid 60's now and I'm hoping I'll get a few more years in before my brain gets all brittle like that.
Meanwhile, I listen to talk radio and enjoy it. There must be something seriously wrong with me 'cause there can't be more than about 20 million people in this country who listen to it each day....That's my kind of minority.
Hey...c'mon and level with us. Are you actually Oscar posting under an assumed handle?
You may already be a liberal. You've got the arrogance thing going down to a tee.
Even if it is just some media-darling's opinion, apparently.
I am not offended by Rush
Even when the whole premise behind his "show" is that he
is going to educate your presumably ignorant self about something?
He assumes you are ignorant.
Obviously so, one does not presume to educate the informed.
I listen to talk radio and enjoy it.
I'm sure the other folks at the facility do, as well.
Yes, because I won't listen to an "entertainer" with a "show".
You may already be a liberal.
Allllrighty then.
Like I said previously, you just might be a liberal....you have the arrogance of one and that's more than half the game.
I don't in tune any show, radio or TV to get my opinion on things. If that's what happened to you and you blame Rush or AM talk radio for it, so be it.
Please don't ascribe your experience to the rest of us, especially if you insist on talking down to all us "pig farmers" or whatever. That sounds like it could have come from the mouth of Hillary Clinton.
You might want to look in the mirror....I think you're going full-blown Hillary Clinton liberal on us.
OK you've made your decision.
But there is no need to go around preaching it like it was the Gospel and anyone disagreeing with you is a "pig farmer".
I'm starting to think you might have some "Toys in Your Attic".
So long, Captain...
A happy and prosperous new year to you.
Seek wisdom within.
It's just the problem with AM is that as soon as you walk into a building, the signal is almost gone. Go into a basement level and you have nothing but static.
Have fun with your "toys". I see you're already off to a good start.
'gunner you are now on my new AM ping list.
Good seeing you the other night as well the whole gang.
freedom, poser, capt, 'gunner.....have a safe New Years eve.
"Oscar"....LMAO!
see ya'll next year,
That's why I always avoid basements at all cost.
Seriously, each radio band has its advantages and disadvantages. That's part of what makes the radio spectrum so interesting to amateur "Ham" radio enthusiasts.
Old timey AM radio can make long hops at night but it's subject to static and a lot of other atmospheric interference. It is the second most primitive means of radio communication (CW was first), but it has its place in long distance listening.
Ever since TV wrestling went all lame on us, this is all we have for fun on Saturdays.
Big Brother Telecom Consolidation Ping!
The commercial viability of analog AM was extended indefinitely by Rush Limbaugh and other Conservative talkers.
The push for digital is at least as political as commercial. Think RFID everywhere and high-speed wireless connectivity on a global grid, with every digital device having its own digital ID to 'know' who is listening. Old analog stuff isn't that smart. For both business and political reasons, many want to change that--especially those who want to silence Conservatives.
Google has been tracking searches by IP address for many months. The more recent cell phones have location trackers built in. This type of personalization and customization goes to even two-driver cars; the chip in one key adjusts the seat to his pre-sets while the chip in the other key adjusts the seat to hers. Great but also potentially invasive depending on who has access to the information. Many want it. Some are getting it, no doubt.
Back to the main point: why would station owners want to spend more money for new equipment if they can make the same money without buying new digital equipment?
(Yes, my rhetorical question omits depreciation, necessary replacement etc.)
"Big Brother Telecom Consolidation Ping! "
Your tin-foil hat is showing....
Digital radio technology has everything to do with politics. The biggest hurdle being that what radio stations would REALLY like to do is get exclusive use of their present spectrum, which in digital format, is WAY more than is necessary to broadcast a high-quality signal.
If they only got the minimum necessary, then they would subject themselves to more competition as the FCC let more stations broadcast (the whining over Low-Power FM proved that)
So you are right...there is no technical reason why we cannot have digital radio, but it is not a conspiracy, it is business/political.
What present license holders want specifically is to have a flexible digital format that also enables them to stream premium content for a fee. The standards to make this happen don't yet exist in a robust form, and the political palms have not yet been fully greased.
Why should the government let NAB members keep more spectrum for their exclusive use, and for free, when they only need a fraction of the 200KHz channel slot (for FM)?
AM will die a natural death, with or without Rush or conservative talk-radio....not sure digital will have much of an affect.
my 2-cents, anyway.
Exactly. As I mentioned in a previous reply, Am radio is the second most primitive form of radio (after Morse code) in existence and what's left of it will remain for servicing remote areas that can't otherwise receive radio coms.
Kinda' like Great Great Grandmother's spinning wheel. Not much use for it in this day and age, but it's not something to be denigrated.
You concur that it is business/political.
That is my point. The technology is benign, radios don't invade privacy, people invade privacy; guns don't kill people, people kill people....
But there ARE those actively seeking control and quashing of free speech and they include a number of people who will be in chairmanships in the next Congress.
Among the pings in my prior post was Richard Poe, author of Hillary's Secret War. If you doubt there is a Leftist conspiracy against Conservatism, read it. Jim Robinson, who I also pinged, wrote the foreword.
Cheers.
"That is my point. The technology is benign, radios don't invade privacy, people invade privacy; guns don't kill people, people kill people.... "
Your point is incorrect from the standpoint of these radios somehow being able to generate a return path to alleged conspirators and report on the listening habits of the owners.
Conspirators would be far more effective by simply denying conservative viewpoints a place on the airwaves. (yes, some have tried and failed in the past)
There is no way for this technology to betray the political views of the listener.
That's just crazy talk!
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