Radio World - November 19, 2008 - (Page 46)

Radio World | radioworld.com OPINION November 19, 2008 A Vote for Change Vol. 32, No. 29 November 19, 2008 Telephone: (703) 852-4600 Business Fax: (703) 852-4582 Editorial Fax: (703) 852-4585 E-mail: radioworld@nbmedia.com Web site: www.radioworld.com Election Day 2008 Has Multiple Implications for U.S. Broadcasting Nov. 4 was a momentous day in U.S. history and marked a true inflection point in the country’s political trajectory. Another vote taken that day could presage similar implications for the broadcast industry. Some will have noticed that FCC commissioners also met and voted to approve the unlicensed use of “white spaces,” the unused DTV channels in any given market, post-analog TV shutdown, for WiFi-like networking of consumer devices. Putting aside the technical merits of this decision — and questions on validity of claims that this will cause harmful interference to DTV stations and wireless microphones that share this spectrum — the vote suggests an important shift in the halls of D.C. politics. It was another resounding defeat for the once-vaunted juggernaut lobbying power of the NAB. The vote put the association’s recent record at 0–2 in its highest-profile policy battles of 2008, the previous loss coming in the satellite radio merger case. It meant that NAB spent a lot of its members’ dollars and political capital in two losing battles this year — not even achieving compromise, but going down essentially to defeat on both. Looking ahead at the incoming administration and Congress, we wonder how successful NAB will be in pursuing its positions on other pending matters, like LPFM and media ownership. A new, Democrat-controlled FCC conceivably could rule against NAB’s position on the remaining open issues in the IBOC proceeding, regarding a potential bandwidth cap and/or tax on datacasting. Worst of all, if the NAB also loses on what will likely be its next highest-profile issue, music performance royalties for broadcast radio — or the performance tax, in NAB’s term — it could be three strikes. It’s hard to say how the new Washington environment will play out on this critical issue or when; but the stakes for an NAB victory in this case are certainly made even higher by its recent record. (And even though President-Elect Barack Obama has said he does not support renewal of a Fairness Doctrine, at least some Democrats would like to see one return, a topic on which NAB would surely attempt to lead opposition.) Some might be tempted to see these recent developments as more than just the ups and downs of Washington business as usual, but rather the beginning of the end of an era in Washington power circles. We suspect that’s a simplistic reading and that NAB, like so many influence-seeking entities, will adapt with the times and the climate. But we will be watching closely as the Obama administration and other newcomers take their seats and consider our industry’s — and its advocates’ — fate. — RW Next Issue of Radio World December 3, 2008 Next Issue of Engineering Extra December 10, 2008 For address changes and subscription renewal, please visit radioworld.com and click on “Subscribe to RW.” To submit letters or story proposals, to request writer’s guidelines, or for other editorial matters, e-mail the editor at radioworld@nbmedia.com. —EDITORIAL STAFF— Paul J. McLane Editor in Chief, U.S. Leslie Stimson News Editor/Wash. Bureau Chief Brett Moss Gear & Technology Editor Thomas R. McGinley Technical Adviser Michael LeClair Technical Editor, RWEE John Bisset Contributing Editor Skip Pizzi Contributing Editor Alicia Zappier Contributing Editor (International) Rogelio Ocampo Latin America Editor in Chief Karina Gerardi Latin America Editor Brian Smith Managing Editor, Web Peter Finch Editorial Assistant, Milan —EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS— W.C. Alexander, Steve Callahan, James Careless, Harry Cole, Mark Durenberger, Charles Fitch, Ty Ford, Harold Hallikainen, Craig Johnston, Paul Kaminski, Peter King, Mark Lapidus, Daniel Mansergh, Sharon Rae Pettigrew, Carl Lindemann, Ted Nahil, Tom Osenkowsky, Ken Deutsch, Rich Rarey, Tom Ray, Randy Stine, Richard Strickland, James G. Withers, Tom Vernon. —ADMINISTRATION & PRODUCTION— John Casey Publisher T. Carter Ross Editorial Director Davis White Production Director Karen Lee Production Publication Coordinator & Production Editor, RWEE Lori Richards Ad Traffic Manager Caroline Freeland Advertising Coordinator N READER’S FORUMN by the listening public and the majority of broadcasters long ago, while wireless Internet radio and other competing platforms thrive and grow. Terrestrial radio’s fortunes continue their slow decline; radio companies have slid into penny-stock territory as audiences and revenues shrink. This is not the time to pit broadcaster against broadcaster over HD Radio interference issues. We need to present a united front, clean our programming house and offer real, not illusory value to our listeners and advertisers instead of endlessly wrangling over a technology nobody in the real world cares about. To the radio industry, HD Radio is Dumbo’s feather. If we just let go of it, we’ll find that we can fly. Robert C. Savage President/CEO WYSL(AM) Avon, N.Y. tried to teach me something about what he was doing. Jeff, Jack Didier, Jeff Goode and also Dan Mettler and Mogan David — these gentlemen were the reason I took up the cause and pursued electronics, and eventually got the chance to work the circuits. I got more shots working “with pictures” for a Fort Wayne TV station, and installing for Harris Broadcast on a few jobs. Right now I’m out of the biz, but always looking. Guys like Jeff, Dan, Mogan, Jack and Jeff Goode are what’s right about broadcasting, and it’s time they get their due, especially from me. By honoring Jeff, you have done that for me. Congratulations, Jeff, from a former “radio rat” from CC. John Corbin Fort Wayne, Ind. —CIRCULATION— Anne Drobish Associate Circulation Director, Audience Development Kwentin Keenan Circulation Manager Michele Fonville Circulation Coordinator This Is Insanity Watching the spectacle of the industry I have loved, lived and breathed for over 41 years, relentlessly and disastrously pressing the failed technology known generically as IBOC, reminds me of nothing so much as the common housefly impotently crashing against a pane of glass in his attempt to escape into the sunshine. Maybe if we try the same thing for the 13,000th time, we’ll get what we want! Memo to the HD Radio contingent: Stubbornness is not a valid substitute for true innovation. A year after The Great HD-AM Nighttime Rollout, the adjacent-channel interference being visited on helpless distant stations from those operating with HD-AM at night has been nothing short of disastrous. Legacy 50 kW major-market signals are annihilating their neighbors, frequently co-owned facilities, so that even local coverage AM coverage in distant markets at night is severely compromised. And now the fix proposed for HDFM’s coverage problems is to repeat the AM debacle on FM via a digital power increase? Let’s all recall the time-worn advice that “the definition of insanity is repeatedly making the same mistake but expecting a different outcome.” Many experienced engineers feel that 10 dB will do nothing but transplant AM’s adjacent-channel problems up into the VHF spectrum while providing little real-world improvement in digital penetration. And don’t fantasize that increasing digital HD-FM power by some lesser factor is a practical notion. It portends a regulatory morass with enough lucrative litigation potential to gladden the heart of any trial attorney. It’s tragic how we continue to argue and tinker with a technology left behind —SUBSCRIPTIONS— Radio World, P.O. Box 282, Lowell, MA 01853 Telephone: 888-266-5828 (USA only 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. EST) 978-667-0352 (Outside the US) Fax: 978-671-0460 E-mail: newbay@computerfulfillment.com —CORPORATE— NewBay Media LLC Steve Palm President and CEO Paul Mastronardi Chief Financial Officer Jack Liedke Controller Denise Robbins Group Circulation Director Joe Ferrick Vice President of Web Development Market Groups Carmel King Executive Vice President, Video/Broadcast Group Eric Trabb Vice President / Sales Director, Video/Broadcast Group Adam Goldstein Vice President, Group Publishing Director Systems Integration Group John Pledger Vice President, Group Publishing Director Music Player Network /Pro Audio Division —ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES— US East & Latin America: John Casey Fax: 330-342-8362 US West & Canada: Carl F. Mayer III Fax: 866-416-7543 330-342-8361 e-mail: jcasey@nbmedia.com 716-524-4084 e-mail: cmayer@nbmedia.com Classifieds & Product Showcase: David Carson 615-776-1359 Fax: 866-572-6156 e-mail: dcarson@nbmedia.com Europe, Africa, Middle East: Raffaella Calabrese +39-02-7030-0310 Fax: +39-02-7030-0211 e-mail: rcalabrese@broadcast.it Japan: Eiji Yoshikawa Fax: +81-3-3322-7933 Asia-Pacific: Wengong Wang Fax: +86-755-5785160 +81-3-3327-5759 e-mail: callems@world.odn.ne.jp +86-755-5785161 e-mail: wwg@imaschina.com Jeff Littlejohn When Jeff was working for Broadcast Circuit Systems he engineered for my high school station, WJHS (FM), in Columbia City, Ind. I was getting used to just running the gear and had not thought of trying to fix it. Jeff used to come in and really give me all sorts of grief over the music I would play and the things I said. (I probably deserved it too.) But the few times he got into a piece of equipment or “down in the blocks,” he Radio World Founded by Stevan B. Dana Radio World (ISSN: 0274-8541) is published bi-weekly with additional issues in February, April, June, August, October and December by NewBay Media, LLC, 810 Seventh Avenue, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10019. Phone: (703) 852-4600, Fax: (703) 852-4582. Periodicals postage rates are paid at New York, NY 10079 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Radio World, P.O. Box 282, Lowell, MA 01853. REPRINTS: F http://www.radioworld.com http://www.radioworld.com http://www.radioworld.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Radio World - November 19, 2008

Radio World - November 19, 2008 IBOC+Satellite? Subscribers Not Impressed The New World of AM DA MoM Contents Newswatch Buterbaugh Legendary in Upper Midwest From the Editor Buterbaugh: His Colleagues Look Back Workbench: What’s Wrong With This Picture? KFI Back at Full Power With New Tower 3G or Not 3G? That Is the Question Exploring HD Radio Availability in Philadelphia HD Radio Scoreboard Digital News GEP For That Bird Without a Wire A Chat With Bay Country Radiolicious Brings Radio to iPhones People News Belar FMHD-1 Clears the Skies Reader’s Forum Radio Thrives in Digital Age A Vote for Change

Radio World - November 19, 2008

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