NAB to Help With All-Digital AM Test as Some Seek to Revitalize Band
U.S. radio stations, starting to seek to test all-digital AM broadcasts, have also been adopting the type of HD Radio broadcasts that already are authorized by the FCC as some in the industry and at the commission seek to revitalize the band, said industry officials in interviews Thursday. Beasley Broadcast Group sought experimental authority from the agency to run WNCT(AM) Greenville, N.C., in “all digital transmission mode,” it said in a Tuesday letter. It said NAB would participate in the test, and industry officials told us they believe another broadcaster had also done such tests with help from the association.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
If Media Bureau staff approve, Beasley wants to for 90 days starting July 1 run WNCT in a mode that “will essentially replace the analog modulation by moving the primary” in-band/on-channel carriers, the company said. Tests will be done “in conjunction with” NAB using the station’s antenna and transmission facilities, the request said. “It is believed that this testing will be of significant value to the broadcast industry as it works to improve the delivery of AM broadcasts in the presence of an ever-increasing noise floor.” Company officials declined to comment for this story.
There are about 259 AM stations using HD Radio technology from iBiquity Digital, Senior Vice President Joseph D'Angelo told us. There were 4,736 licensed AM stations of all kinds in the country on March 31, bureau figures show (http://bit.ly/YwAyDI). Commissioner Ajit Pai has spoken to NAB and other audiences of what he calls AM revitalization (CD Nov 20 p6). “NAB Labs’ Radio Technology Committee is exploring a wide variety of options for AM Radio revitalization, one of which includes experimental tests of an all digital transmission system,” said an association spokesman by e-mail. “We look forward to reviewing the results of these tests, along with other recommendations.”
CBS has done such a test, the results of which were discussed at the NAB Show in April, said iBiquity General Counsel Albert Shuldiner. The broadcaster got an all-digital experimental authorization Oct. 24 for 90 days at WBCN(AM) Charlotte, N.C., FCC records show. It was the only other such request and authorization for any broadcaster, said a bureau spokeswoman.
AM stations, of which there are fewer in hybrid digital than FM, seem to be eyeing all-digital tests or upgrades to hybrid status, said industry executives. “If these tests are successful, I imagine there would be discussion within the industry about the merits of allowing AM stations to go on-air in an all-digital format,” said Shuldiner. “But I think there is more testing that would be required” to get to a point where an across-the-board request rather than one on a station-by-station basis was considered, he said. “AM broadcasters are looking for ways to improve their ability to compete and serve their audiences. There are lots of options. I think all-digital is one thing they're looking at.” A previous FCC order letting FM stations boost digital power has “been successful for those broadcasters,” said Shuldiner. “I think we'll see more broadcasters increase their power as they upgrade their transmission equipment."
A nationwide transition to all-digital AM would help market broadcasts in the band to consumers, though such a required switch as occurred with full-power TV stations is impractical and unlikely, said the head of an alliance of most major broadcasters. Other industry and agency officials have also dismissed such a move as being likely, while saying it eventually would help improve AM stations’ sound-quality and perhaps perception (CD Oct 1/10 p7). “From a marketing perspective, nothing would make me happier” than a switch, said Peter Ferrara of the HD Radio Alliance. “Long term, that’s where we've got to get to, because the spectrum will allow better and more vibrant use for the consumer,” he said. “It’s going to become the de facto, go-to standard, but it’s going to have to get there by evolving, not by mandating.”
Talk of AM revitalization can only benefit the industry, said Ferrara and Shuldiner. “AM has been the red-headed stepchild for many years, and to try to bring it up to par is certainly a very viable and doable task,” said Ferrara. All-digital AM stations probably won’t much affect the rollout of Digital Radio by stations, said Ferrara. “But it does make a difference in terms of the acceptance and use by the consumer at the end of the day. Radio is one of the last of the non-digital mediums out there.”