[Swprograms] Sirius/XM/IBOC

["Lee Reynolds" <kd1sq@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

John, 
     what you say presently has merit, but not for much longer due to
changes in the terrestrial radio field in the US.

Your argument was partly based on a viable FTA radio system in the US.
Problem there is that with the introduction of IBOC - and the fact that it
has just been cleared for 24 hours a day use - the conglomerates now have
access to a business model which is not entirely dissimilar to that of
Sirius/XM. The FCC has already tacitly acknowledged that carriers may charge
fees for the multicast audio streams in an IBOC signal. 

Guess what? FTA broadcasting on FM in the US is going to suddenly become
worse than ever. Strangely, however, the additional subscription-only
channels are suddenly going to be carrying far superior programming - you
may even see the likes of Howard Stern showing up once more on terrestrial
radio via the subscription-only channels.

All of a sudden the big boys have direct access to the listener's wallets.

This is the first two thirds of my predictions (made five or six years ago
in various forums)coming true. The final third will be the massacre of the
mom and pop FTA stations and the other non-conglomerates by the cost of IBOC
fitting, the vastly reduced service areas accessible to them and the
interference that IBOC causes to interstitial stations. If that doesn't work
fast enough, the NAB/FCC will then, citing the IBOC precedent as proof of
feasibility, force a switch to all digital on the domestic radio bands.

It's all about the money guys. When you can turn a free and open market into
a closed revenue-generating one, why - *everyone* benefits, right?

Lee

 


_______________________________________________
Swprograms mailing list
Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms

To unsubscribe:  Send an E-mail to  swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.