Re: [IRCA] IBOC battle begins

["Craig Healy" <bubba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>I heard someone state that at least some of the big guys are
>prepared to pay off smaller stations for the privilege of
>making the hiss.  I am not sure if this is true, and I
>certainly hope it does not come to this, but it would not
>surprise me.

Nor I.  However, there have to be enough stations out there that simply won't take $$ for an answer.

It may come to two things..

If the FCC and the courts refuse to intervene, and Congress likewise sidesteps it, I think we'll see a number of stations simply fold.  I was speaking to a fellow who does a lot of IBOC work.  One comment he made was that there are a lot of stations "that shouldn't be on the air".  Maybe so, but it's not iBiquity's job to silence them.  Certainly not by jamming them out of existence.  We may also see a number of smaller stations bought and taken dark.  Smaller communities will lose, big time.

And I still think we'll see a great increase of stations cheating.  If it's done in such a way as to really hide it, the chance of getting caught will be very small.  Heck, pirates like the 1710 in NYC and 1620 near Boston survive without the cover of a legitimate license.  How will they ever catch a 5kw graveyarder that does a professional job of covering it's tracks.  If the hiss is really that loud, it will cover the signal increase just as well.

Another thought..  There is equipment out there to synchronize the carrier frequency to GPS.  By doing that, a small transmitter can be put right near a station's monitor point and that small signal level adjusted and phased to reduce the reading at that location.  Wouldn't be hard, or even very expensive.  That way the FCC could inspect a directional station, see all the parameters within licensed values, and then read the monitor points which would also be within limits.  Yet the station could be running 10X the licensed power.  Not rocket science.

Even if caught, it make take years.  How much $$ can they make in that amount of time?  Can it run long enough for the owner to retire comfortably?

If the FCC or the courts *do* see the harm that is being done, and the increasingly unlikely chance that IBOC will progress to the point where all-digital mode can work, they may simply kill it on AM.  They may just be looking for a way to do that and save face right now.

If you think about it, maybe half the stations out there will either be financially or technically unable to run IBOC.  Is the FCC willing to kill off half the dial?

Craig Healy
Providence, RI




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