When I first heard of this proposal by Larry Todd of WRNJ Radio in New Jersey, I thought it was an excellent idea to move all current AM stations to the presently little used spectrum of 45-50 MHz, which is a portion of the original Apex FM band (42-50 MHz) used by the FM inventor Edwin Armstrong in the 1930s to mid 1940s, for an all new digital broadcast band utilizing the international DRM+ broadcasting standard. However, after reading the comments of some of the most intelligent people on the Radio Discussions board, I have come to the realization that this might be extremely difficult to implement due to the FCC's reluctance in considering proposals that will bring radio into the 21st Century in the United States.
One of the advantages outlined in this article is that the plan will finally end the antiquated, outdated, and technically inferior AM band in the United States. In addition to killing off the nearly 100-year-old AM band in the United States, another advantage is that it will address and alleviate the overcrowding on the FM band due to the excess of translators and LPFMs that are cluttering up the FM band currently. However, there are other significant obstacles that will prevent this plan from being implemented in the United States such as music copyright royalties contracts that would probably have to be changed in order to ensure that music producers, songwriters, performers, musicians, and other people within the music industry are adequately compensated for their art. Although those in the music industry will get paid more for their work, the radio stations, on the other hand, will have to pay more in royalty fees, which will make it very difficult for radio stations to make a profit in order to stay on the air. In order to compensate for the increased royalty fees, the radio station will have to increase spot rates for advertising, which means the station will have to play more commercials so they can stay in business. Overall, this will have a detrimental effect on broadcasting in the future.
In order to solve this problem, what are some of your suggestions of how the FCC can get rid of the antiquated AM band in the United States and move these stations to a new frequency band that provides less electromagnetic interference and nighttime skywave interference issues? Also, how would you alleviate the overcrowding on the FM dial caused by an excessive number of translators and LPFMs that are currently cluttering up the band? Do you have any plans that will solve the current issues plaguing both AM and FM radio and will also help solve the issues between the radio and the music industries so that an all digital radio in the United States will be a reality in the long term?
One of the advantages outlined in this article is that the plan will finally end the antiquated, outdated, and technically inferior AM band in the United States. In addition to killing off the nearly 100-year-old AM band in the United States, another advantage is that it will address and alleviate the overcrowding on the FM band due to the excess of translators and LPFMs that are cluttering up the FM band currently. However, there are other significant obstacles that will prevent this plan from being implemented in the United States such as music copyright royalties contracts that would probably have to be changed in order to ensure that music producers, songwriters, performers, musicians, and other people within the music industry are adequately compensated for their art. Although those in the music industry will get paid more for their work, the radio stations, on the other hand, will have to pay more in royalty fees, which will make it very difficult for radio stations to make a profit in order to stay on the air. In order to compensate for the increased royalty fees, the radio station will have to increase spot rates for advertising, which means the station will have to play more commercials so they can stay in business. Overall, this will have a detrimental effect on broadcasting in the future.
In order to solve this problem, what are some of your suggestions of how the FCC can get rid of the antiquated AM band in the United States and move these stations to a new frequency band that provides less electromagnetic interference and nighttime skywave interference issues? Also, how would you alleviate the overcrowding on the FM dial caused by an excessive number of translators and LPFMs that are currently cluttering up the band? Do you have any plans that will solve the current issues plaguing both AM and FM radio and will also help solve the issues between the radio and the music industries so that an all digital radio in the United States will be a reality in the long term?
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