Broadcasters, Engineers Disagree on All-Digital AM
Engineers and broadcasters disagree whether more experimentation with possible interference concerns is needed before allowing AM broadcasters go all-digital (see 2003100062). Some argued the FCC should pursue other solutions for the band, in replies posted through Tuesday in docket 19-311.
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This shouldn’t cause undue interference problems, said Hubbard Senior Engineer Dave Kolesar, who oversees the only currently operating all-digital AM U.S. station, WWFD Frederick, Maryland. “It’s designed to work within the current scheme,” he said in an interview.
Those pushing for digital show “little regard” for the “considerable interference” it could cause to analog broadcasters, wrote broadcasting consultant Stephen Smith and Henry Communication engineer Brian Henry, seeking more experimentation before a transition. “The transition to digital AM radio should be a carefully implemented, orderly process.” WWFD, operating on an experimental license, hasn’t gotten interference complaints, Kolesar said. Any additional interference from all-digital AM stations would be caused by short-spaced stations or station specific factors, he said.
NAB “disputes assertions that additional testing is needed to determine potential interference to co-channels during nighttime hours.” The rollout “is expected to be fairly gradual, which will provide the FCC and industry time to monitor and address any interference problem,” said the association. Xperi pushed to allow a transition. “It is clear from the record that many AM stations are ready to embrace the promise of all-digital radio,” Xperi said.
Any transition should be purely voluntary, said iHeartMedia, resisting calls for a mandate requiring HD radios in new cars. Non-HD radios can’t receive all-digital AM. A mandate could increase expenses for automakers, making them less likely to include radios in cars, iHeart said: “Recognize the potentially hazardous, if unintended, consequences of disincentivizing ubiquitous availability of broadcast radios.”
The rise of all-digital AM adds more functionality and quality to car radios, Kolesar told us. It “helps make the case for keeping AM in the car,” he said.
Several filings said the agency should focus on other solutions. “Simply being allowed to operate in full digital is not the answer for all AM stations,” said Universal Stations. “Because many AM stations are unable to acquire an FM translator or allocate an existing license due to prohibitive costs or spectrum constraints, switching to all-digital is not a viable option." Act on other AM revitalization proposals, such as eliminating third-adjacency restrictions, the broadcaster asked: “The third adjacent channel protections currently in place are no longer necessary or in the public interest but instead unnecessarily increase the costs of operating small AM broadcast stations.” Henry and Smith want action against interference from utilities and electronic devices: “For the ultimate survival of AM radio, there is no alternative to dealing with the noise issue other than concerted, aggressive Commission enforcement.”