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Days after AM HD begins broadcasting at night complaints from listeners apparently drive Citadel stations to cease nighttime operation until it can be studied further. PopWireless has been following this story at http://am-iboc.blogspot.com/ Persons interested in following these events can find many articles on the subject at this great blog.
In March of this year the Federal Communications Commission authorized AM HD radio stations to begin twenty-four-hour per day broadcasting on September 14, 2007. This is a major shift in the FCC Rules that formerly protected broadcasters against the expected and now prevalent nighttime interference to stations on channels adjoining an HD broadcaster.
The HD Radio Interference, we will coin it HDRI, is characterized as a loud obnoxious frying egg noise on top of an AM radio station’s analog signal. Here at PopularWireless HQ the kitchen is open and the eggs are cooking big time. A favorite here has been New York’s famous WABC where many enjoy listening to Coast-to-Coast AM in the early mornings. WABC is now plagued by HDRI making listening impossible at times. Across the AM dial the analog receiver is sizzling away.
What does this mean for AM radio? A few things can happen. The AM radio DX’er, the radio listening hobbyist that listens for long distance radio stations at night is not going to give up. These folks will adapt because the hobby is too exciting to give up. The average consumer of AM radio is going to either move to satellite radio, buy an HD radio and keep their fingers crossed, listen to the radio anyway and grit their teeth or just turn it off altogether. Only the radio station’s rating periods will tell who does what.
HD radio is still an expensive upgrade to a medium that basically cost nothing until now. The night worker that listens to a tiny transistor on the table at their job might have paid six bucks for the privilege. HD radios are still priced from $149 and up with most of the popular brands at $299.99. You guessed it. Folks that once listened to their favorite programs at night are going to either put up with the interference or flat out give up.
The FCC is forcing the new upgrade down our throats. It is economy building and social change all wrapped up into a neat little bundle. The bureaucrat thinks the public needs this cool new technology so the FCC is going to take actions which prompt the public to make changes. At least the consumer can elect to do nothing rather than consider an expensive option like a satellite radio subscription or an expensive new radio. But we have to wait and see. Will HDRI drive the public away from AM radio or will FM radio or even shortwave radio be the new entertainment destination?
The big impact will be on consumers already living in challenging AM radio reception areas. Here in Southern Maryland listening even to our local stations can be a daunting challenge. At nighttime, WTNT on 570 kHz lowers their power at sunset. The signal all but disappears requiring the listener to find the same program on stations in far away cities. All across the AM band listeners here are regularly annoyed by the relentless tick-tock-tick-tock and Morse code “RR” of Cuba’s Radio Reloj across the AM dial.
The laws of physics as those laws apply to radio propagation mean that many stations might be heard on the same frequency making listening difficult or impossible. Nighttime radio listening already had significant issues and now, on purpose, and even with great fanfare HDRI was introduced in the mix. Nighttime AM radio is now a complete mess. We will have to wait and see if it ever gets cleaned up or if people just accept the change.
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