ABC Citadel suspends AM IBOC?

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 2:35 PM
Tags: HD Radio, Terrestrial

Visteon HD Jump
An e-mail from ABC-Citadel corporate engineering has reportedly issued an order effective this morning to suspend AM In-band on-channel (IBOC) operations, according to Radio-Info.

The communication came from Citadel's Martin Stabbard, according to sources.

The order, effective immediately, is reportedly for all Citadel AMs running IBOC at night. While no reason was given for the order, it is believed that interference issues are the most likely factor.

IBOC is the method in which iBiquity utilizes to broadcast the HD Radio signal - using sidebands to transmit the digital data over AM/FM waves. But since wider channels are required, both the AM/FM implementations of the iBiquity system often cause interference with adjacent stations on the dial. As a result, lower power stations can become unlistenable if they have an HD Radio station on an adjacent channel.

[Radio-Info]
Thanks Karl!

UPDATE: Apparently Citadel/ABC's AM stations will suspend nighttime HD Radio transmission until they can do further work with iBiquity to reduce adjacent-channel interference. Radio-Info adds that, "the FCC allowed nighttime AM digital as of September 14 - and the complaints have mounted up."

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Comments

GASP???*?!? Whats that Ryan? HD radio broadcasts are interfering with other stations? Oh No... Anyone think the FCC should look in to these Serious infractions?
Will the NAB call on the FCC to levy Fines to the offending stations? Or demand a formal inquiry?

Who would have guessed that AM-HD is imploding?

A good friend of mine came up withsomething. You guys know what IBOC really stands for? "it bothers other channels".

I have read many comments like the one below. its sad what the Iboc cartel managed to get past the fcc and public..

Here’s what one mom-and-pop owner – North Carolina’s Dave Lingafelt – thinks about AM digital.

And not just nighttime. Dave tells me “It’s any time.” He owns stations near the Charlotte metro and thought about “inviting all who attended the NAB last week to tune in, to see what happens when your neighbor on the AM dial goes HD.” Now that Citadel/ABC has shut down its nighttime AM digital broadcasting pending further refinements, Lingafelt says “I just had to get this off my chest.” To wit: “630 AM [WAIZ], Hickory has had a good signal in the Charlotte area, and because we are airing a unique oldies format, we have had an excellent response in that part of the Carolinas. A few months back, I started getting calls and emails asking why they couldn’t hear us any more. I soon discovered that 610 [CBS Radio’s WFNZ] had gone HD and had knocked me out at 630 in their primary areas of signal, and created digital hash that affected the listening, even if you could still hear 630.” Dave says “It makes me so sad to see what’s happening on the AM dial in the name of progress. In the real world, no one is buying and no one cares about HD, but we continue to press forward, even though it threatens the good we already have.” He winds up with “I don’t believe anything has come along that’s more unlikely to take off in the marketplace in the year 2007 – and unfortunately, it’s destroying the AM dial.”

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