Re: [IRCA] AM down the road..

["Craig Healy" <bubba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> The suggestion of having Digital Radio move to its own band has been
> around for a while, but was rejected by the NAB and others.  I am not
> sure why.  There are issues involving copyrighted material when
> broadcasting with Craig's scenario.

There are streams operating right now that have almost all of the same
content as broadcast by the OTA station.  AFTRA-voiced commercials are an
issue, but who cares?  I can get the local stations through my computer
*now*.  I don't need to wait for anything, nor am I losing anything but some
national commercials.  It's here.  I have clients doing it.

> I still claim that the best solution would be to open up some
> spectrum for digital broadcasting and leave the AM band alone,
> despite the earlier rejection.  That way more people "win" in the
> long run.

By the time such a plan came to be, it would already be obsolete, just as
IBOC is.  Wireless broadband is here, and will simply explode in the coming
years.  It's where things are headed - and it has little to do with
broadcasting.

> Craig makes lots of good points.  One thing however regarding wireless
> internet and streaming audio as they are implemented is the bandwidth
> problem.  Every person who listens to a stream is served up their own
> individual feed.  The higher the audio quality the higher the bandwidth
> and corresponding cost.  The more listeners you have the more it will cost
> you. The only way that Craig's scenario will work is when a method of
> distribution will be developed letting an extremely large amount of users
> share a single stream.  That is the present advantage of over-the-air
> radio. You can have one listener or 1 million listeners and the bandwidth
> will stay the same.

Multicasting also exists.  It also appears that the pipeline will be large
enough *when the demand is there* for the streams.  All this is driven by
email and web access, plus virtual private networking.  Audio and video
streaming is a small part, and just along for the ride.

This is getting far enough OT that I will let it drop.  There's nothing more
I can add to this anyhow.

Craig Healy
Providence, RI

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