Re: local radio and digital (was AussieDAB+)

Hi Glenn,


GlennP schreef:
Does it not make more sence to turn a "local broadcaster" into just a "content production" facility and let the aspect of "getting the message ot the listener" be done by other people, with other means.

I think you've pretty well summed it up, the radio landscape is going to change, & quite a lot from what it is now. How, what, & when it will all happen is unknown, the potential is there, but whether it's used is another thing.
(...)
full AM stereo (unfortunately), there's more that transmit AM stereo but
the studio or transmitter links are only mono. If what we already have
isn't fully used, I'm very reserved to think what we will have, will be
fully utilised.


Well, I think people should understand there is a substantial difference
between what is TECHNICALLY possible and what is ECONOMICALLY viable.


FTA broadcasting is by itself an industry with a very low profit-margin
(compaired to other applications like TV, subscription-services,
telecom, internet music stores, etc.) so I do not think that "technical novelties" are for commercial broadcasters their main interest; unless there is a clear and proven financial advantage for them.

I know that overhere in Europe; for about half of the broadcasters their
main problem is not "making a profit", but "simply survive".
The way you describe the broadcasting landscape in Australia, it looks
to me like a very fragmented market; with -dua to its geography- a very
high cost; so I guess that -expect for the radio-station in the big
urban centers- that's probably also the case in your country.



A lot of the early bird digital radio listeners are disappointed, & losing interest in it already, they say the AM stations sound better in DAB+, but the FM stations don't, most think the analogue FM sounds better & would rather listen to that.

I am not suprised that the DAB+ services do not provide CD quality; and
that for a very simple reason: it's not something that is the core
business for them.
Their job is make radio. They are not a "audio-distribution service". That's not at all the same thing; and it has a very different business model.
If you want CD-quality, simply buy a CD; or get the song from the apple
itunes store (and pay the 1 euro per song price-tag that comes with it).


Remember that in the digital broadcasting world, every bps costs. This
is one of the main differences between analog and digital broadcasting.
In digital broadcasting, a station running at 96 Kbps costs 50 % more to
distribute then one running at 64 Kbps; and it you can use these 32 Kbps
for other things (like reselling private data-services) that's something
not unimportant.

BTW. This even applies to DRM. Some of the parameters of DRM
broadcasting deal with the robustness of the signal: especially the
modulation sceme and the error-correction ratio.

By increasing the "robustness" of a DRM-signal, you can increase the
coverage of your signal without increasing transmission-power. Or, put
otherwize, by allocating more bits for error-correction instead of
audio-encoding, you can reduce transmission-power without reducing the
coverage.
I heard somewhere that -for an AM-station- the electricity bill accounts
for over 80 % of the total cost of a radio-station, so it you can splice
of 20 % of that; that's a seriously interesting option; especially for
station that have relative low listeners-density (read: low advertisment
revenue) like in australia.



Anycase, do you have any idea why all the other stations stopped stereo AM? Was it not something related to patent-costs?


(...)
content providers to the multiplex company. What they decide to provide remains to be seen, whether it be music, talk, some form of datacasting/data information services, etc. We'll just have to wait & see.

And these multiple operators will then also have to compete with other "delivery providers", like the ISPs and IPTV-providers, satellite, cable, etc.

And, in the middle of this, there is the regulator who will have to make sure that certain other aspects are not forgotten (like universal minimal service coverage, fair access, fair competion, ...)

Indeed. You are correct. We will just have to wait and see. One thing is sure. There are still interesting times ahead.


Cheerio! Kr. Bonne.
.

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