Month: November 2009

LPFM's Elephant In the Room

I was heartened to see that the requisite committees of the House of Representatives and Senate have both endorsed complementary bills that would expand the FCC’s low-power FM (LPFM) service toward votes on the floors of the respective chambers. Those working the issue in D.C. are very optimistic that Congress will pass both versions of the Local Community Radio Act, harmonize them, and send a version to President Obama by the end of this Congressional session.
But it’s not yet time to break out the champagne just yet. There are three reasons for this: Continue reading “LPFM's Elephant In the Room”

Pirate Radio Finally Lands on U.S. Shores

After an inexplicable two-and-a-half month delay (and name change), the feature film also known as The Boat That Rocked is now out in U.S. theaters. If it makes it to my burg, I’ll check it out in the theater; otherwise, it’s in my Netflix queue.
After short runs in the UK and France (the only two places it’s apparently been released otherwise), it’s taken in just shy of $50 million.

iBiquity/NPR HD Power Hike In Play

As predicted, the two major players in the HD Radio space – iBiquity, the proprietor of the technology, and NPR, its primary broadcast innovator – have jointly petitioned the FCC to increase the power level of HD Radio sidebands. They’re asking for a blanket 4x increase to the power of digital sidebands for both AM and FM stations, and includes proposed methodology for allowing selected stations to increase their digital power levels by 10x. The joint filing even includes helpful language the FCC is encouraged to adopt in full as as regulation. The National Association of Broadcasters was not far behind in lauding the deal.
Given that this will obviously involve a modification of the “spectral mask” under which a stations’ power must exceed, this request skewers once and for all the notion that HD radio “does not use new spectrum.” Continue reading “iBiquity/NPR HD Power Hike In Play”

Just in Time for the Holidays…

…I decided to remove the store-section of this web site. For years I have affiliated with alternative or independent retailers of books and music, but nobody really bit, partially because e-commerce on this site is somewhat antithetical to its nature; it’s really a labor of love. (Even so, many thanks to those who do occasionally throw a buck or few my way via the donate button).
Apologies to those who had linked to my book reviews; perhaps those will be resurrected in the future. Continue reading “Just in Time for the Holidays…”