The end of commercial broadcast radio as we know it.

[KA1ZGC]

I can't believe I just read someone saying "all it takes is for the FED to pass legislation".

Are you freakin' kidding me? There's legislation against child porn. There's legislation against stalking. There's legislation against harassment. All these things take place online and off, and legislation didn't do a goddamn thing to even slow it down, let alone stop it.

What is it that makes people think that making something law automatically makes everyone comply?

[w3jn]

I see you need to watch out for those black helicompters there too, sonny  ! 

[WQ9E]

Black helicopters are so 90's.  Don't you realize they have been invisible and silent for years? 

But never fear, somewhere is a secret lab someone has almost cracked the secret of converting those 1950's Conelrad alarms into invisible helicopter detectors.  So make sure you look under the tables for one of these things at the next hamfest so you too will be prepared.

Now back to worrying about the government tracking me to a hamfest via OnStar.  Or just maybe there are enough real problems (like the lead I just broke on a 7805 regulator while I was repairing my CX-7A) that there really isn't time for imaginary ones.

[KA1ZGC]

Guys, read the attached artical via the link below.

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/executive_tech/article.php/3522911

Who's naive now?  That happened back in 2005. Watch what happens within the next few years, its only the beginning.

How have the enforcement efforts gone? Has this stopped any and all spam in the state of Michigan? Have there been any child abductions or rapes in Michigan in the last five years?

If the answers are "poorly", "no", and "yes" (and I'll put money on all three), then your question about naivete' is answered.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Black helicopters are so 90's.  Don't you realize they have been invisible and silent for years?

Oh crap! I'm screwed!

Next you'll tell me they are contolling my mind via cell phone towers.

[ka3zlr]

Looking at the Ce4ll coverage of zerizon why is there such a big hole in Nevada....sup wit dat.

73
Jack

[W3RSW]

Oooooh.

Looking at the Ce4ll coverage of zerizon why is there such a big hole in Nevada....sup wit dat.

Well everybody knows that Nevada's just a big area 51, but have you seen the cell coverage hole over WVa.? 
It's the secret national park portion of the latest purloined 81 million acres.

Patrolled by translucent, invisible, light wave bending saucers, "donch'a know schonnies."_{tm, op. cit. 'HUZ et. al.}

[KB2WIG]

Black helicopters are so 90's.  Don't you realize they have been invisible and silent for years?

Oh crap! I'm screwed!

Next you'll tell me they are contolling my mind via cell phone towers.

Sshhh He's one of them.


klc

[Bill, KD0HG]

There is a positive side to this.

If somehow, someway, effectively applied, an email fee could create a problem for spammers. Even a penny per message could put them out of business.

[W3LSN]

I'm not going to beat this drum anymore, but I'm sure the link to this article will be of interest to some. Dated today, it talks about the FCC's plan for nationwide broadband by 2020.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/191438/fccs_national_broadband_plan_whats_in_it.html

The highlights of this new plan are:

"The FCC wants 100M bps service to be available to 100 million U.S. homes by about 2020."

"Over the next 10 years, the agency plans to identify 500MHz of wireless spectrum that can be freed up for wireless broadband service."

"The agency will propose a new program asking television stations to voluntarily give up unused spectrum in exchange for a portion of the proceeds when that spectrum is auctioned."

I have already read that some FCC staffers are proposing to pay DTV stations to voluntarily relinquish their licenses so that the TV band can be repacked and reduced yet again in favor of broadband technologies. In terms of regulatory support, OTA DTV appears to be a dead man walking.  




73, Jim
WA2AJM/3

[Ed W1XAW]

Gotta say that I have no way to know how typical this is but when I drive around carloads of 10 year old girls they all want to listen to the "Q," a local station that plays Lady Ga Ga and The Black Eyed Peas endlessly (off a satellite feed I assume).   Anyway who said radio was dead to kids?   Is this speculation or is there some audience polling that says so?

[W3SLK]

Ed said:

Gotta say that I have no way to know how typical this is but when I drive around carloads of 10 year old girls they all want to listen to the "Q," a local station that plays Lady Ga Ga and The Black Eyed Peas endlessly (off a satellite feed I assume).   

O M G! I think I would rather jump penis first into a field full of cactus than listen to that stuff. That might be the reason for broadcast radio's rapid demise. Everything has to be suited to a niche and the variety has to be there. Without a doubt, if it wasn't for sports and talk radio the AM portion would be deserted.

[ka3zlr]

Howdy,

I have three kidz. the oldest likes today's Pop, the middle daughter likes all country,(we side up alot in family arguments) and the Boy who's 14 talks to other people on this game box thing he has put together, it's some Live Army Battle thing on going, a little technical savvy there,I was proud of him when he wanted me to see it when he got it built.. and likes the black eyed peas deal. All on the radio's they have.

My Wife Listens to a Church station,...I wear Homey Tennis Shoes an listen to 1020 KDKA with my headphone set up when I do my 1 mile an a 1/2 as per Doctors orders.

73
Jack

[k4kyv]

Interestingly, I was skimming through some of the 1923 issues of Radio Broadcast that I just downloaded, and ran across an article on the topic of radio stations paying royalties when they play records over the air, virtually identical to what is being debated to-day.

I very rarely listen to any commercial broadcast station - AM or FM.  I mostly  listen to one of the three NPR FM outlets receivable in this area. During daylight hours I can also get one NPR AM station. In addition, mostly for the music they offer, I sometimes listen to one of the three non-affiliated university FM stations we can pick up. There is no classical or jazz played on any of the local commercial stations.  About the only commercial AM left with any class at all, is WSM in Nashville, but I am not particularly a fan of country music although I can take it in small doses.

Besides AM and FM, I play streaming audio from Radio France Internationale, and sometimes surf what else is streamed on the net. I still surf the SWBC bands, but no longer regularly listen to anything there.

I consider it a lot of TV if I watch more than two hours a week.  Mostly PBS, but occasionally some of the cable channels like National Geographic, but my cable choice is very limited since all I subscribe to is the bare-bones basic cable service, which offers little more than what you can pick up OTA  Once in a great while I surf the new OTA sub-channels, but about the only thing I find worthwhile there is PBS-2 during daytime, which offers something besides Sesame Street and other so-called "educational" programming for kids.

I hate the idea of paying for cable service and still having to watch commercials, but you do the same thing with newspapers and magazines - pay for the subscription and still there are ads.  But at least the ads in printed matter don't interrupt your reading unless you want them to.

I could get by without a TV in the house and not miss it.  My wife watches some of the stuff on commercial TV like American Idol, but I think it is a waste of time. But she doesn't keep the TV running all her waking hours as many of her friends do.

To put it bluntly, I have just about as much use for commercial radio and TV as I have for 75m slopbucket.

[N0WVA]

I could get by without a TV in the house and not miss it.  My wife watches some of the stuff on commercial TV like American Idol, but I think it is a waste of time. But she doesn't keep the TV running all her waking hours as many of her friends do.

To put it bluntly, I have just about as much use for commercial radio and TV as I have for 75m slopbucket.

Best investment I ever made was the wireless headphones for the wife. Ten bucks at Big Lots and they are real comfortable. She can watch all the retard TV she wants and I dont have to be tortured with all the screaming and carrying on. I can melt solder in peace.

[W2VW]

Jim:

While we cannot stop progress, the FCC has been promoting other services at the expense of free OTA radio and TV for decades. The FCC was originally an engineering group that was replaced with lawyers creating technical regulation, thus the wireless consortium will win over, at the expense of the consumer.

Having spent 25+ years in broadcasting, I have a historical background while working very hard to stay abreast of the latest technology. From a broadcaster's point of view, the re-mapping of TV spectrum was an economically difficult transition that had no economic gain (actually heavy costs on the average of $10m per station) for the broadcaster.  This latest selling of the public's spectrum is obviously the nail in the coffin for us. And yes, I agree that the NAB provides too little too late. Take for instance the Mobile DTV push that is happening right now (I helped implement it at our station)-I feel this is technically flawed technology (i.e. 8vsb in a moving environment) that is arriving a bit too late, while 3g is already in place serving the iPhone crowd.

The WiMax idea can be a good thing, but I feel they can do it without taking the broadcaster's spectrum. My guess is the re-farming of broadcaster's spectrum is a move to squash competition for entertainment, and at the same time, yet another free service becomes a paid....err "service". How much local content will these Internet providers create?

So those on a fixed income will not be able to get free entertainment, but more importantly access to emergency information and public service as the rules for license ownership were originally based on (yes also originally it was accepted as a blatantly commercial service). WiMax will widen the gap between the have's and the have not's, and allow for more complete surveillance of the end user.

Also it is my opinion that once spectrum is sold in any way, the FCC really has no leg to stand on regarding regulation.

Will the new users of this valuable spectrum be required to hold to the same rules for emergency alert, profanity and public service as the broadcasters currently do? I think not.

Is this proposed re-farming in the public interest, convenience or necessity?

Dan

 

http://www.rabbitears.info/blog/index.php?post/2010/03/18/Opinion%3A-National-Broadband-Plan

[K5UJ]

I have already read that some FCC staffers are proposing to pay DTV stations to voluntarily relinquish their licenses so that the TV band can be repacked and reduced yet again in favor of broadband technologies. In terms of regulatory support, OTA DTV appears to be a dead man walking.  

73, Jim
WA2AJM/3

Dream on.  Broadcast television, over the air TV, will not die until the Congress is convinced it is not needed to run campaign ads and reach the voters and get votes.  They just spent around a hundred million bucks on $40 coupons for converter boxes.   They decided when the changeover would be; not the FCC.  And all it takes to kill a bill is for one senator from a rural state to decide he has no other way to get to his voters in the sticks but over the air tv to get reelected, and it is game over for the whole country.  You seem to think the FCC can just do anything they want.  I have news for you, The Congress tells the FCC what to do through the Secretary of Commerce by calling him in to testify before flood lamps and flash bulbs and making his life miserable.    The Congress ultimately decides what goes into the United States Code; not the FCC.  Most of the time the FCC is allowed to follow their own rule development and procedure but the Congress can intervene whenever they want.   

I watch on average 30 minutes of TV / week.   I tape some public radio shows and listen to them at my convenience.  Most of my live radio is AM.  I love radio when it is analog AM on a good receiver. 

[k4kyv]

One of the more sensible proposals I have heard so far is to re-purpose TV  channels 5 and 6 to expand the FM broadcast band, and give AM daytimers and  local stations hampered by limited coverage the first shot at the new frequencies,  while leaving the AM band to a much smaller number of remaining regional stations, and to clear channel blowtorches with national night-time coverage.

Only a handful of TV stations across the country are still using those two channels, but their owners are screaming to high heaven in opposition to the proposal, and it appears NAB has come down on their side, even though there is plenty of vacant spectrum in other nearby abandoned VHF TV channels that they could easily move to.

This reminds me of the minuscule number of CW operators who still operate in the 40m segment between 7100 and 7125, but who cry holy hell whenever someone suggests expanding the phone segment down to 7100 following the  removal of broadcasters from 7100-7200.