Re: [IRCA] A Perfect Example

[Scott Fybush <scott@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Ah, but keep in mind that KDKA and WBZ are co-owned, so it's not as 
though one side doesn't know or care what the other is doing.

There's actually a VERY long history of problems stemming from this 
particular poorly-conceived set of allocations, going all the way back 
to the thirties. When the clear channel alliance went to the FCC in the 
early sixties to apply for 750 kW or more on the I-A clear channels, 
they acknowledged even then that it would be impossible to operate both 
KDKA and WBZ at that power level because of the adjacent-channel 
splatter that would result, and even then Westinghouse told the FCC that 
it would sacrifice superpower potential for KDKA in order to maximize 
WBZ's coverage. (And back then, Pittsburgh was still a top-15 market, if 
memory serves; the disparity in market size has only grown since then.)

It would have made far more sense, at some point in the distant past, to 
have shuffled some allocations around to take KDKA and WBZ off adjacent 
channels (originally 980/990, then 1020/1030 after NARBA in 1941). If 
WBZ were on 1040, this wouldn't be an issue at all.

(Note that most of the first-adjacent channel pairs among the I-A clears 
have far more distance between them - LA/Nashville on 640/650, 
Nashville/NY on 650/660, NY/Chicago on 660/670, 770/780, 880/890, and so 
on. Probably the next worst example is WJR vs. WABC on 760/770, but that 
doesn't seem to cause anywhere near as many problems as KDKA/WBZ always 
has.)

It doesn't help, either, that the "new" antenna KDKA installed in the 
early nineties has not lived up to expectations at all.

But at the core of it, this particular issue is ultimately an internal 
one within CBS. If they believe that sacrificing KDKA's fringe coverage 
is worth it in order to put IBOC on WBZ, no amount of listener 
complaints will change their minds on the matter.

Fred Schroyer wrote:
> Thanks to all who encouraged me to complain to KDKA re WBZ's IBOC QRM. I 
> emailed KDKA's eng. dept. Be interesting to see if I get a response...if 
> I do, will post...
>  
> I think we should have a competition for the best "real meaning" of the 
> acronym IBOC. How about "I Bash Other Channels" or "I Broadcast Onerous 
> Crap"?
> 
> Fred Schroyer
> Freelance Science Writer / Editorial Consultant
> 955 Sixth Street - Waynesburg, PA 15370
> (40 air mis S of Pittsburgh - 20 air mis N of Morgantown, WV)
> Home 724-627-8844 - Work 304-599-7830 x 1120
> freditor@xxxxxxxxxx
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
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