| Last Week of the Year
It's the last week of the year. Have you forgotten anything? Any business or financial matters that need a 2014 date on them to be kosher? Time to think back over the past year. | | Special Edition: AM Revitalization - 12.29.14 | Through this holiday season, Radio World NewsBytes features special roundups of the best of our 2014 editorial coverage. In this issue, a survey of stories about AM revitalization.
AM Ideas Fill the FCC Inbox (March)
The industry debates in comments filed to the FCC the wider use of AM-only FM translators, as well as far more dramatic ideas like not authorizing any new AM stations and tax incentives to entice struggling AM owners to turn in their licenses. Whether to continue to require owners to protect skywave reception is an especially volatile issue.
Pai Wants Quick Action to Help AM (April)
At NAB 2014, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said he supports opening up FM translator window for AM owners "no later than 2015." Longer-term though, AM has some "difficult issues" to be decided, according to Pai.
Observers Hope This Is Year for AM Relief (July)
Some engineering consultants believe the FCC will move on at least certain proposals, like eliminating the "Ratchet Rule" and opening up a window for AM owners to apply for FM translators, soon. Engineers also debate whether moving AM stations to analog TV Channels 5 and 6 merits scrutiny.
What About Skywave Protection, All-Digital AM? (August)
Commissioner Pai asks for additional AM improvement ideas, and suggests the industry nail down how much nighttime skywave listening currently takes place and resolve the debate over whether to continue skywave protection. He reiterated his call for the FCC to act by Halloween on the portions of the AM revitalization initiative that face little industry opposition.
Kintronic Presses FCC on AM Standards (September)
Company President Tom King shared his concerns about AM with several members of the FCC staff in September. He urged the agency to establish mandatory minimum technical standards for AM receivers, and allow AM synchronous transmission, among other suggestions. In a demo, King compared CQUAM AM stereo reception with a local FM station as well as the effects of adjusting AM bandwidth from 2.5 to 10 kHz in 2.5 kHz steps.
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| BMW Won't Revisit AM for Electric Models (September)
The automaker told NAB it won't reconsider its decision to leave AM out of the radio for its electric i3 and i8 models. The electric motor interferes with AM reception. The Southern California Broadcaster's Association formed an engineering group to offer help.
Tell City Ruling Disappoints AM Backers (October)
The FCC Media Bureau in September denied the so-called "Tell City waiver" request to move an FM translator farther than rules normally allow. Many eyes had been on that request. Cromwell Group CEO Bud Walters, one of the parties who filed the petition, thought the waiver could have provided a model for the FCC to offer quick relief to other AM owners.
Let's Save a Vital National Media Resource: AM Radio (October)
Authors Stephen F. Smith and Tom F. King, consultant and president, respectively, at Kintronic Labs Inc. in Bristol, Tenn., offer proposals to improve the AM Band. They say the two greatest issues currently threatening AM radio are the worsening electromagnetic environment; and the concurrent failure of the consumer products industry to provide the listening public with high-quality AM receiver systems (comparable to their FM counterparts).
Shulz: AM Improvement Ship Has Sailed (November)
Warren Shulz, former engineer at WLS(AM), Chicago, who's now retired, agrees with Kintronic Labs' Tom King that the FCC has done AM "many disservices" over the years. However, Shulz says, "In the grand scheme the AM auditorium is an empty room and the audience is not returning. The public at large has bought their iPhone, iPod or you-name-it Wi-Fi devices, and they are happy."
Skotdal: AM Band Needs Drastic Change (December)
Frank talk from station owner Andrew Skotdal. All-digital transmissions on the AM band are better than analog, notes the owner. "However, all-digital operation, if adopted, would only be a Band-Aid for the unstoppable rising tide of electromagnetic erosion that ultimately will wash away the coverage and signal improvements of digital," says Skotdal, who favors AM migration to abandoned VHF spectrum.
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