CRTC authorizes IBOC HD radio on AM & FM

[skyvalleyradio]

From today's AllAccess.com "Net News" page:

CRTC Ruling Opens Door For HD Radio In Canada
THE CANADIAN RADIO-TELEVISION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CRTC), an independent, has announced a revision to its policy for digital radio broadcasting, opening the door to the HD RADIO IN-CHANNEL, ON-BAND (IBOC) system.

In its Public Notice CRTC 2006-160, the CRTC commented that it would be prepared to authorize services using IBOC/HD Radio technology for the AM and/or FM bands, if the CANADIAN DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY authorizes services using the technology under the RADIOCOMMUNICATION ACT. The commission added that "an expedited process would be adopted for stations that propose to transmit a digital simulcast of their analog service."

iBIQUITY DIGITAL President/CEO ROBERT STRUBLE said, "THE CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (CBC) began HD RADIO testing in SEPTEMBER 2006, focusing on transmissions from TORONTO and PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO. Full results have not yet been published by the CBC, but early feedback has been very positive. There are plans to begin testing on MW-AM operations in early 2007.

"Programmers will be able to offer their content in both French and English as well as create new channels for Canada?s diverse population. We welcome this decision by the CRTC, and we look forward to the opportunity to assist Canadian AM and FM broadcasters with their digital conversions."

[Mike Cleaver]

Great!
Just because the US has to be different from the rest of the world, we abandon DAB that's used everywhere else and go with this technically inferior method of broadcasting, so called IBOC.
It allows broadcasters to use existing AM and FM frequencies to expand the number of broadcast channels.
The reason the Americans wouldn't go along with the rest of the world was because the US wanted the frequencies used by DAB (Eureka 47) for military purposes.
I agree DAB was very poorly handled here in Canada.
There are and were virtually no receivers made available and no real publicity given.
The only way to hear DAB was in a radio station, where they actually had a receiver to monitor the signals.
Even AM Stereo got a better launch than DAB and we know where that ended up.
IBOC sounds like bad satellite radio and it can't be used on AM after dark.
DAB truly is CD quality audio, not that super compressed and bandwidth limited crap that is IBOC or satellite radio.
DAB is in most developed countries, has been for years.
But not in Canada any more.
I'm sure with this decision, the DAB sites will be pulled down, leaving the very few people with DAB receivers with nothing to pick up, unless, of course, they leave North America.
I am not defending broadcasters here.
They f**ked up DAB the same way they did AM Stereo.
The last time there was a change that worked, it was FM coming in and eventually taking over from AM.
And that too, was in spite of the CRTC which saddled (and still does) FM broadcasters with archaic programming regulations.
IBOC?
Not for me!
Most of the stuff I listen to is on my home stereos or my personal listening device, some of the content comes from the internet.
Over the air radio sucks the big one.
IBOC will mean more channels with the same old dreck.
BAD DECISION, CRTC but hey?
When have they made a good one?

[jon]

It would appear that the U.S. is not contemplating dumping IBOC, at least on AM, if this article is to be believed:

RW Opinion: Rethinking AM?s future

12.20.2006

The FM-HD rollout, including HD2, continues to roll along nicely. To date, almost 1,400 FM stations have licensed the Ibiquity standard. The majority of those are on the air; and according to estimates from Ibiquity and the alliance, the number of stations multicasting is near or more than 500 (estimates vary).

But what about AM? The story there is quite different.

Only 175 or so AM stations have even licensed AM-HD. For a number of reasons, quite a few have tried it and taken it off the air, or so the anecdotal evidence suggests. (Ibiquity no longer reports in its public summaries whether a station is on the air.)

Making AM-HD work well as a long-term investment is seen as an expensive and risky challenge for most stations and their owners. With the bulk of successful AMs airing news, talk and sports, the improved fidelity advantage of HD and stereo seem only marginally attractive. There is the significant downside of potential new interference to some of their own AM analog listeners as well as listeners of adjacent-channel stations. And of course we still have no nighttime authority for AM-HD.

What to do? In recent years engineers and others have proposed various ideas that would leave the AM band behind and coax the FCC into creating a new band for AM to which existing stations could migrate ? an expanded version of the expanded band, if you will, where stations would be allowed to simulcast on both their old AM channel and their new one for a certain time frame until receivers adequately filled the market.

An attractive choice for such a band is TV Channels 5 and 6, which could be re-engineered to become available after the HD-TV migration is complete. Another idea picks the 25?27 MHz RPU and public service band once used by broadcasters, which has been all but abandoned because of skywave interference and is now overrun by rogue CB operators.

When the FM band moved in 1945 from 42?49 MHz to its 88?108 home, there was plenty of spectrum and public interest to justify creating an expanded new radio band. The idea of noise-free, high-fidelity radio held great promise for adding many stations and formats to better serve consumers. It took a while, but the mission was accomplished.

These conditions hardly exist today. The marketplace is heavy with hi-fi audio entertainment and information delivery systems. FM, satellite, iPods, MP3 players and the Internet have stolen much of AM radio?s potential audience. There is no public demand for another radio band to be created to ?save? AM and added to the busy array of choices. Only AM stations with limited coverage areas that have lost audience would have any interest in advancing such a proposal.

The VHF TV channels left behind by the HD-TV conversion will be auctioned by the FCC to the highest bidders representing proponents of new technology. The only AM owners who might be capable of competing in such bidding wars would be the very large companies that already have successful AMs. Most are 50 kW full-coverage facilities with larger service areas than their FM sister stations. Given the massive installed base of radios that hear all AM stations, the owners? best interests are served by staying put and eventually migrating to a better IBOC digital solution.

The Canadian DOC reportedly is considering adopting the Ibiquity format for FM but not for AM; Digital Radio Mondiale may be its AM choice. Ibiquity should take a long look at this development and seriously consider incorporating DRM into its AM system to make it more flexible and scalable. DRM could well become a more worthy option for AM stations and their digital future.

Regardless, developments in and around digital radio for AM are raising pressing concerns. Owners and regulators need to look at these questions closely.

? RW
http://rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.557.html

[jon]

My best guess is that HD radio and satellite radio will merge into the ground-based alternative to satellite radio that CHUM proposed, but pulled when the CRTC licensed both XM and Sirius. Makes the most sense to me, anyway.

[Aaron]

I am not defending broadcasters here.
They f**ked up DAB the same way they did AM Stereo.

I don't think the broadcasters share more than a minor part of the blame. The CRTC should have opened the floodgates for NEW licences and NEW content, and not just from existing broadcasters.

If the general population thinks Satellite sounds just fine, then you'll never in a million years convince them that they need to spend money to get the same FM content with better sound.

Yes, broadcasters didn't promote it, but there was nothing there worth promoting.

[tuned]

ADG is right on the money. Broadcasters killed DAB in Canada. They didn't want any new competitors into their cosy little club. The CRTC was considering giving the licenses only to NEW companies and the old boys club put a kibosh on that in a hurry.