DON’T GIVE AM TO THE DOGS
Daniel Brown’s reaction to the Scott Clifton commentary (“The TV Perspective,” March 12 issue) gives me the impression that he went for the “send” button a little too fast.
As the owner of nostalgia-programmed KCCI(TV) in Morro Bay, Calif., he is delivering product to the very same demographic that probably listens extensively to AM radio — presumably not many millennials are tuning in to “I Married Joan.” Yet he advocates tossing AM “to the dogs.”
Does he mean to allow the band to go unregulated, unlicensed and just plain wild? Or just switch it off? Doing so is a huge slap against his very own audience.
Also, with seven fairly well-defined AM stations that can be heard in Morro Bay, and many others with marginal signals, I want to believe he did not just alienate every AM owner in his market by saying that.
Mr. Brown redeemed himself by suggesting opening up the band to LPAM pioneers. That makes better sense, as he and his three-person TV station are definitely pioneers in their own right.
I can appreciate the battles he is fighting with the hungry sharks wanting to pluck at his signal. But the idea here is to help AM, not throw it to a pack of starving canines.
Alan Peterson, CBT/CEA
Springfield, Va.
CODEC DESERVES ATTENTION
Thanks, Scott Clifton, for the good article (“AM, You Want a Fix? I Got a Fix!,” Feb. 12 issue). Interesting to understand your experiences with mobile data in your area.
The AAC-HEv2 codec deserves your attention. It operates very well at 56 kbps. Our industry friend Greg Ogonowski is a big proponent of AAC-HEv2, and has a terrific app (for iOS) that lists and plays thousands of stations streaming in this format. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the audio results. Looks for “StreamS+” in the App Store. It’s well worth the asking price.
Here in Nashville, I regularly drive around listening to a variety of stations using the TuneIn Radio app. My phone (usually a Samsung Galaxy Note 2) is on T-Mobile and indicates 4G LTE service in most metro locations. Rarely a dropout.
Kirk Harnack
Vice President/Executive Director
Telos Systems
Nashville, Tenn.
CROWDED FM BAND
I completely support the idea of creating an FM Class C4 costs (“SSR Renews Push for FM Class C4,” April 17). I would also support an equivalent FM Class B2, at the same proposed ERP, HAAT, etc.
The FM bandwidth has become inefficiently crowded with a lot of less-powerful Class A stations at the one end, and a lot of maximum Class B and C FMs at the other end. That inefficient “packing” of the FM bandwidth leaves out the potential for more stations in the middle.
Allowing more FM stations at a Class C4 (and B2), where technically appropriate, would certainly promote the FCC’s policy of maximizing the American public’s access to more broadcast “voices” over the public airwaves.
The FCC should very seriously examine this proposal, then put it into effect.
Robert Lee
Owner/General Manager
Lee MediaWorks LLC
Abilene, Texas
