Alt 92.3 is just a jukebox there are no shows or personalities.
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102.7 HD2 is off the air
- Thread starter BruceNYC
- Start date
I can't live without my coffee in the morning either lol.I'm not angry, at least not about this topic. Just frustrated. Because, as I wrote, it's been over 20 years and HD has had more-that-ample time to become mainstream, and yet the vast majority of listeners either (a) still don't know it exists, (b) don't understand what it is and how to use it, or (c) don't give a rat's ass. In those same two decades, most people have been exposed to satellite radio and streaming audio, whether or not they've decided to sign up with Sirius or Spotify. Both technologies have their own problems, as do old-fashioned AM and FM analog, but HD is largely a failure in the marketplace of listeners. That's just facing reality.
The rational thing to have done, which I believe is still possible, is to completely turn off HD as of some date certain (like, let's say, 12/31/23), and eliminate all backdoor stations (translators for HD sidebands). Then re-license all translators (except those that provide fill-in for existing analog signals within their protected contours) for the exclusive purpose of migrating in-market AM stations somewhere onto FM. Give priority to the smaller, signal-challenged stations, but require the AM's to leave the air after a transition period, maybe 6 months from the date their translator goes live. And limit how many of these situations any one owner can take advantage of - let's say two - with all additional stations they own having to be de-licensed and sunsetted.
Where there are AM-FM simulcasts, similarly impose a drop-dead date for those AM's to sunset. And whoever's left on AM gets to choose from a toolkit of viability options: boost power, apply to change frequency allocation, alter or eliminate directional restrictions, some combination of all of those, whatever it takes for a station to be viable and for the mess to be cleaned up. Which will be more doable when most of the other signals are gone.
Or ... offer owners a one-time tax writeoff for taking their remaining station(s) off the air permanently. I'll bet most of them would grab that opportunity. But one way or the other, the mess we're in has to be remedied if terrestrial broadcasting is still going to be viable ten or twenty years from now. But the current HD mess just isn't the answer, and it sounds like the big owners are finally figuring that out.
All this could have been predicted a quarter century ago, and most of it could have been avoided. The one "black swan" event was, IMO, how much the AM noise floor deteriorated due all the 21st century technology that has been allowed to stomp all over it by the government agency that was charged with regulating exactly that.)
Nope, not angry, though maybe I shouldn't start typing before I've had any coffee.
I don't think there are any commercials either, are there?
Prior to Alt 92.3 on this subchannel, there was the New Arrivals Channel -- also commercial-free if I recall correctly. And prior to that it was K-Rock on auto-pilot under previous ownership, which was frankly a fantastic sounding jukebox...but also commercial-free.
I have never understood the business model of some of the HD jukebox subchannels. Not that I want to see them go away but I'm surprised many of them weren't turned off long ago.
Good idea, but what that would do is prevent full FMs in many cases from moving transmitter sites due to improvements, closing of an existing site, construction of new taller buildings surrounding it, etc.
That would be lawsuit heaven for lawyers. Just because you invested more in radio, you get to preserve fewer assets?
It's not as simple. The translators have limited coverage and the FCC always seems concerned about unserved areas... although it is time to review that with so many new ways of getting audio service.
Next to nobody today will rebuild an AM on a different channel with a different antenna. There is too much cost and too little gain.
Any business expense is a "writeoff". If your AM has a book value, then you deduct it. If you buy bottled water for the staff on a remote, you deduct it. Businesses are not taxed in the way individuals are: essentially every expense is deductible or can be depreciated; you pay tax on what is left over.
And the FCC which could have further regulated noise creation as it has the authority to do so... did nothing. Once upon a time, if power lines had leakage over dirty insulators and the like, you could call the power company and they would come and wash the insulators in your neighborhood. Try that today.
Will Channel Q, on 92.3 HD3 be the next Audacy HD channel to be removed? Tonight my receiver shows the names of the songs, but there is no audio. Could be a technical issue, but given the recent news about Audacy shutting down HD channels, it seems just as likely that Q is leaving broadcast radio.
Check some of the other threads where Channel Q was being discussed. Maybe members in DFW and Phoenix can see if it's down there too.
Channel Q is operational locally.
Better fix my presets in the car again. 😔 I have 6 stations on 3 FMs I can use for a total of 18 stations. NYC doesn't have 18 stations that I listen to nor does NJ.
Whatever happened to Brady continuing to host on Alt 92.3 after its move to HD2? That was announced prior to the change as if it were a done deal, but then it never happened.
I believe he can be heard on the Audacy Detroit and Seattle stations if you don't mind streaming.
Channel Q's flagship was what is now KNX HD2 in Los Angeles, which is also off the air. They're still on in other markets for now.
Once the format signed off on the analog side, it was very obvious almost immediately that the HD2 version was more similar to what the station sounded like two years ago (way less 90s, more newer alt/pop rock acts). I suspect it is running generic logs and not a priority to have someone babysit/insert National voice tracks.
At least Audacy was able to keep a number of the staff, including Brady but also Brad Steiner and some off air people.
I listen to it every so often on my Amazon Echo. To my surprise, the playlist has more 90s and a lot more deep than the analog 92.3 ever was.
Initially it sounded like they were running a jock less, spotless log from two years prior , although that was 3ish months ago.
Safe to say Channel Q will be shuttered entirely on Monday when the new owners take over KQPS via an LMA.
Is there any reason why it wouldn't continue on the Audacy app? I thought they were just shutting down HD-2/HD-3's.
The brand was gutted well before Lance broke the news on Audacy Atlas. All the shows and personalities got cut, and has ran jockless since. They could convert it to one of their Pandora-like channels that don't require WideOrbit to be running somewhere, or just eliminate it as they already have LGBTQ themed playlists/channels to begin with, so it would become moot. Shutting it down seems logical.
Here in Houston Channel Q was still going on Audacy’s KKHH HD-2 at an afternoon check on Wednesday 3/1. However Audacy sibling KHMX here just axed its Hard Rock and Smooth Jazz HD outlets.
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