NEW DELHI: Even as All India Radio awaits a final decision on DRM so that it can work towards reviving the medium wave and short wave transmissions, radio operators in the United States are facing a similar problem where FM has strong roots.
The National Alliance of AM Broadcasters – a new group composed of mostly AM (Amplitude Modulation) owners formed to support the revitalisation of stations on the senior band – believes several of the implementation details of the Federal Communication Commission’s proposed initiatives to help AM will be counterproductive.
It has said AM “needs strong medicine to survive” and “half measures will only serve to extend a languishing demise of the medium.”
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Led by Radiotechniques consulting engineer Edward Schober, members include Radiotechniques, Multicultural Radio Broadcasters, Legacy Media Memphis, Enrico Brancadora, Winchester Radio Broadcasters, and Bill Parris, owner of Maryland-based Radio Broadcast Communications.
The NAAMB supports many of the FCC’s proposed initiatives to help AM. But it says the Commission has put forth in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is “grossly inadequate” to help AM.
In its comments filed with FCC, it says many reforms, like an AM-only FM translator application window, can be put in place immediately, according to the group. The FCC extended the deadline to file reply comments until 20 March.
The Association also agrees with duTreil, Lundin & Rackley that principal community service is an anachronism in the present media environment and that daytime/nighttime community coverage standards should be eliminated, or, at the very least, modified.
The group believes in eliminating the so-called “Ratchet” rule and says that AM antenna efficiency standards should be modified.
It asserted that no new analogue AM stations should be authorised — there are too many on the band now. Only applications for digital AMs should be authorised going forward, but not those transmitting in IBOC, notes the group, which terms that technology “a complete disaster.”
That is because “even with ideal equipment integration and tuning AM IBOC serves only a small fraction of the analogue AM service area, and stations with troublesome directional antennas cannot be equalised for satisfactory performance.”
The Association says AM IBOC hybrid transmissions should be discontinued. Alternatives like MA-3, MA-4 or Digital Radio Mondiale DRM-30 systems are needed for a successfully AM digital transition, according to NAAMB.
The group also believes the FCC should amend Part 15 and Part 18 of its rules to better protect AM frequencies and provide a mechanism to identify noncompliant devices and installations. Part 15 exempts many in-car devices, notes the group: “There are many times when the noise from an 18-wheeler will blank out an AM station for 100 yards or more. This is problematic if a listener is traveling in the same direction as the truck.”
The NAAMB proposes the commission use a Web-based reporting system for users to report devices that appear to violate Part 15 and Part 18 as well as installations that generate excessive noise.
Some ideas, like controversial reforms, require additional research and comments. The commission should establish a Continuing Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for these issues to develop a better record, says NAAMB, which tells the commission the NAAMB proposals are meant to help the FCC accomplish the goal of returning AM “to its former vitality.”
