Airwaves: August 31, 2007
Oh, The (KNX) Drama
My mention last week of KNX (1070 AM) going back to its roots
as a news station brought in a ton of mail. Not in regard to the changes in programming
now (though two people lamented the loss of Money 101). No, the question
on everybody's mind was "will the Drama Hour be coming back?"
Sadly and unfortunately, the answer is "probably not." While KNX dominated
the competition years ago during the 9-10 PM hour with nightly old time radio
programs such as The Lone Ranger and my personal favorite, The Jack
Benny Program, the hour did tend to attract a higher percentage of older
listeners than normal ... exactly what KNX is trying to avoid even if it means
essentially having no listeners.
OK, I'm being a bit more sarcastic thank normal. But the fact is that KNX probably
won't bring back the Drama Hour even though they should. So what's a listener
to do?
One suggestion: go to www.otr.net. Select from over 12,000 shows -- Abbott
and Costello to Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar -- and download them to
your computer. After that either burn a CD or put the shows on an iPod and suddenly
you have ... you very own Drama Hour!
It's Coming
For those who own an HD radio -- radios capable of receiving digital AM and FM
broadcasts -- September 14th is a big day. Actually it's probably a big day for
all AM nighttime radio listeners, but perhaps for a different reason.
September 14th, 2007 is the day that nighttime HD broadcasts for AM stations
are allowed. This date is 30 days after the official FCC rules for HD Radio were
finally published in the Federal Register; by law such rules take effect after
this 30-day window.
What this means is that HD radio owners finally get to hear if AM HD does indeed
work at night. It seems that nighttime authorization had been held up due to
concerns of massive interference caused by the way AM signals can propagate for
long distances at night. Can an HD signal lock in when the analog signals themselves
occasionally have problems?
Indeed, HD detractors are predicting that there will be so much interference
caused by the HD broadcasts that the entire AM band will be rendered useless
for both regular and HD radios.
For an example of what they are talking about, tune in an AM HD station during
the day (KLAC 570, KSPN 710, KBRT 740, KABC 790, KFWB 980, KNX,
or KDIS 1110) and then tune just slightly up or down the dial. That "hash" sound
you hear (like an old-style modem) is the HD broadcast being sent just above
and below the center of the frequency.
Under the right circumstances the interference to adjacent stations can cause
the adjacent stations to be "lost" on some radios. Many AM fans are
concerned that this interference, when spread over the nighttime skywaves, will
cause interference to all stations on the band, not just the distant stations
that they like to hear (another problem in itself).
Last Day
Today is the last day to hear The Real Don Steele on www.reelradio.com
... for FREE!
Normally ReelRadio charges a nominal fee for access to their library of thousands
of airchecks, or recording of radio stations and personalities. During the month
of August, in memory of Boss Jock giant Steele, the website gave access to about
five unedited hours of his on-air work, both on KHJ and Ten-Q.
If you haven't checked it out already ... what are you waiting for?
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Copyright © 2007 Richard Wagoner and Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
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