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It looks like East Idaho News has already expanded contributors and sources of opinion again. Furthermore, there are job postings for two more journalist/reporter types. Many of us know the owner of Riverbend Communications at one point was going to start a second newspaper in Idaho Falls. Talk of that decreased with time. When I first returned full-time, I had been told that person was going to put one of the local shared tv stations back in its own station, with another local newscast. Neither of those media ventures came to be. Someone decided somewhere along the way East Idaho News was a better medium to add additional local and regional news we weren't getting.
If a journalism or communications grad (or equally experienced radio, tv or multimedia journalist) needs a job, they may want to check with Riverbend. I don't know what types of stories or the work hours are etc., but it may be a job some may enjoy. I'll be watching to see how much new content is added.
I like Cavuto too. As for Red Eye, i no longer watch it. Gutfelt was the show and when he left so did the show, in my opinion.
I don't like Kennedy; not that I don't like her beliefs, I consider myself a Conservatarian (like some conservative values, like some libertarian values...maybe just confused).
AOL was a lot more than just an email address or a new agency. They made money. I believe in 2014 they made almost a billion fron display and search ads on owned properties and close to 900 million in selling third party ads. And they are growing fast in that field. Besides they also own Huffington Post, Endgadget, Mapquest (I believe), Tech Crunch and quite a few other noted businesses.
And here is a tidbit I noted a week or two ago when searching the purchase of AOL...AOL makes over 500 million bucks a year FROM DIAL UP SUBSCRIBERS. I did not realize how many people were actually still on DIAL UP service. It's a shrinking market, but heck, I thought it has shrunk to almost nothing many years ago.
Here's an article from Engadget (and AOL company) about Norway....
Many purchases of large companies are not what they appear. When Google purchased Motorola Mobility (Motorola had spun off the cell phone market to Motorola Mobility but kept the rest of their production in radios and other communications), it was not to get the phones it was to get their over 29,000 patents on cell phones and the technology. In fact, Google sold Motorola Mobility about a year later to Lenova, but without the patents.
f5, The link never came through on your post. So I researched it myself. Yes, I am a self-starter - LOL
Norway and No FM is troubling to me, at least from what I read. Some of the reasons seemed lame to me.
I understand they have five state stations in the country of Norway. Changing will allow up to 42 stations. I believe they said 22 will be ready and up to 20 more added. And broadcasting on FM costs eight times more. However, the articles I read said the savings would be $250,000 in U.S. dollars. That isn't an incredible amount of money to have the entire nation change to Digital Audio Broadcasting ( DAB).
Obviously this is being watched as some want to see DAB would be right for the U.S. Idaho is a good state to compare, IMO. European countries often aren't as large as a fair amount of states. The costs for the U.S. would be considerably more, although I couldn't find a dollar amount. The articles I read said currently 56% of Norwegians listen to DAB. Okay, what about the 44% who don't?
To hear DAB programs, residents would have to have computers and/or smartphones. With Smartphone data caps on a large majority of U.S. carriers, I don't see how this would be financially an option for many. Obtaining a computer is not something everyone wants to do.
When people go camping or horseback riding in the Sawtooths or Tetons etc. usually they want a quieter time. Some take radios in Idaho due to wanting to hear the weather forecast. As Mike and I started to discuss last week, I can see a greater role for more AM services here where the FM signal can't get through. Secondly, Smartphones or Computers would be needed by all. I cringe when I see a 6-7 y.o. with an iPhone I do not understand what a kiddo in second grade needs an iPhone for, unless the kiddo is cheating on tests in the classroom. It's one thing to have the most simplistic phone for an emergency. What data plans would cover all the radio some listen to in a day? What about younger children or aging adults who can't see the dials or perform the multiple steps needed to listen with a SmartPhone?
Third, I know Norway thought the DAB was better quality than what came over the air from local stations. The stations here sound great from radio. Some sound good through apps, some don't.
Before I write more, what am I missing? What makes this good for Norway that the U.S. might want to do the same? I dislike seeing the huge corporations running the same show in many markets. I think On Air Talent increases the value of radio. I probably listen to ads compared to automatically closing pop ups. Communications and staying connected with humans is something some of us value , but not everyone. However, many who don't want to listen locally still listen via Sat. Radio stations. There is still a connection with a human on many stations, even if that is Howard Stern or others.
I hope one or more here can help me understand more.......
It's Norway; personally, not sure why the rest of the world would care. If FM stations make money in the USA, then they will stay, same with AM. Heck the only thing they are famous for are Trolls and Lillyhammer (the Netflix series; not the town of Lillihammer) )
As for digital audio radio, I believe it is the same as the advertised HD radio and I have that on my Silverado (I believe, never used it). I know i have access to Pandora; maybe I should give it a try someday.
When I camp, I have a small bluetooth, two speaker system I connect to my smart phone if I want to hear music. If I need a weather report, I go to the truck, and turn on the XM weather system, and I can view the local weather via the MyLink system in my Sivlerado. If I want, and I might give it a try this summer, I can also make my Silverado a 4G internet hot spot.
I say might try, since not sure how it will work in out of the way areas. (The XM weather depends on satellites so it can work most places), but the 4G hot spot requires an AT&T 4G tower to be within range. Now the Onstar system is a heck of a lot more powerful than my LG G3. For one thing, smart phones, cell phones, anything you place near your head is limited to 0.6 watts and have an antenna about a half-inch long (some wound ones are a bit longer); however, the Onstar system works on 3 watts (same wattage as those first cell phones in bags from the 80s or dedicate car phones), and the antenna is about two inches long and sits on top of the cab. From experience, it will pull in phone calls where a standard cell phone won't. So, I'll give it a try and see how the 4G hot spot works. If good, I'll keep it on for the summer when camping.
So far, in most of the areas I have camped in the mountains, cell phone service with a hand held cell phone is very limited. NO coverage, no digital radio. And that has been true with both Verizon and AT&T. (One reason why I carry a PLB with me; just in case of an emergency. Government took away my Iridum )
As for iPhones....only slight experience and that was not good; switched to Android and never looked back.
Don't believe I would lose sleep over the possible killing off of FM. Not even sure if the frequencies used by FM, VHF (30-300 MHz) are used that much for other devices so not that much in demand. UHF 300 MHz - 3GHz and SHF 3 - 30GHz, used for Satellite communications and Cell phone are in much demand as the industry expands and continues to add (5G is coming).
It's Norway; personally, not sure why the rest of the world would care. If FM stations make money in the USA, then they will stay, same with AM. Heck the only thing they are famous for are Trolls and Lillyhammer (the Netflix series; not the town of Lillihammer) )
As for digital audio radio, I believe it is the same as the advertised HD radio and I have that on my Silverado (I believe, never used it). I know i have access to Pandora; maybe I should give it a try someday.
When I camp, I have a small bluetooth, two speaker system I connect to my smart phone if I want to hear music. If I need a weather report, I go to the truck, and turn on the XM weather system, and I can view the local weather via the MyLink system in my Sivlerado. If I want, and I might give it a try this summer, I can also make my Silverado a 4G internet hot spot.
I say might try, since not sure how it will work in out of the way areas. (The XM weather depends on satellites so it can work most places), but the 4G hot spot requires an AT&T 4G tower to be within range. Now the Onstar system is a heck of a lot more powerful than my LG G3. For one thing, smart phones, cell phones, anything you place near your head is limited to 0.6 watts and have an antenna about a half-inch long (some wound ones are a bit longer); however, the Onstar system works on 3 watts (same wattage as those first cell phones in bags from the 80s or dedicate car phones), and the antenna is about two inches long and sits on top of the cab. From experience, it will pull in phone calls where a standard cell phone won't. So, I'll give it a try and see how the 4G hot spot works. If good, I'll keep it on for the summer when camping.
So far, in most of the areas I have camped in the mountains, cell phone service with a hand held cell phone is very limited. NO coverage, no digital radio. And that has been true with both Verizon and AT&T. (One reason why I carry a PLB with me; just in case of an emergency. Government took away my Iridum )
As for iPhones....only slight experience and that was not good; switched to Android and never looked back.
Don't believe I would lose sleep over the possible killing off of FM. Not even sure if the frequencies used by FM, VHF (30-300 MHz) are used that much for other devices so not that much in demand. UHF 300 MHz - 3GHz and SHF 3 - 30GHz, used for Satellite communications and Cell phone are in much demand as the industry expands and continues to add (5G is coming).
Oh, maybe we shouldn't care in the U.S. Trolls and Lillyhammer? I am part Norwegian. ..............
There is no doubt you camp prepared, f5. Not everyone knows as much as you about how to be prepared, f5.
I think your point about 5G is the most salient remark. What is driving the change away from FM, other technology and possible needs. We'll see how Norway does with this when they start to phase it in. Certainly, we can learn from any problems they encounter, but the U.S. has so many more people than Norway does.
Trolls... hmmm,, my Norwegian teacher never taught us that word
This has been posted for more than a week so I guess I'll make a comment now. It appears one of our three radio station clusters is seeking On Air Talent and Program Directors. What is unusual is the notice doesn't clarify which formats. Potentially, we could get at least one format change.
To those departing or moving to non-broadcasting positions, I wish you all the best.
As for Lillyhammer...if you have netflix, give it a try. Not the best series they have ever done, but have to say it was interesting...
I've always wondered why AM Stereo never took off. But what will kill FM are commercials.
Thanks f5. You're going to get your first gold star first for your insightful, helpful posts. WTG
I am not an expert so I would defer to those who know the truth. I assumed AM was limited because FM came along and listeners liked the sound. And for some reason, some AM stations could only operate during sunlight hours, or off air by a certain time. If one's station isn't on the air, that is part of how FM grew locally.
As for Lillyhammer...if you have netflix, give it a try. Not the best series they have ever done, but have to say it was interesting...
I've always wondered why AM Stereo never took off. But what will kill FM are commercials.
AM signals always have some frequency drift due to the method the signals are transmitted.
AM stands for Audio Modulation; the signal is transmitted in pulses, and the low frequencies of the AM band follow the terrain. Put the two together and trying to transmit a stereo signal would be a nightmare trying to keep two different frequencies in synch with each other.
A stereo AM transmission would require 2 separate frequencies next to each other on the dial. A receiver would have to be capable of getting both at the same time, each free from drift, and then send each to a separate channel on the radio's amplifier. That's difficult and expensive, and very hard to work right.
FM signals are much higher frequencies. FM stands for Frequency Modulation; the signal stays steady at it's power limits, but modulates within the channel. The higher the frequencies, the more they are surrounded by harmonic signals. These harmonics can be used for their own transmissions. That's why FM channels are numbered 100.1, 100.2 etc. Each is a sideband of the large 100.0 band.
So a channel set at 100.1 will transmit stereo at 100.1.1 and 100.1.2. At UHF- Ultra High Frequency, the same channel could transmit stereo at 100.1.001 and 100.1.002 (or even finer).
Because FM is line of sight, there's far less drift, but FM is prone to bounce. An FM signal will bounce off a mountain rather than flow over it like AM can.
All this is from my old Navy training- I was a Radioman. It was all pre-digital then, and I'm sure digitalization has made things much more precise now.
You're right f5.
I remember the first FM stations, back in the mid-late 60s when they first began airing. Receiving any stereo signal required some spendy consumer equipment, and the stations made full use of stereo reception.
The recordings were done in much wider stereo than they are today, so the stereo effect was much more pronounced, and the FM stations most often bundled their advertising into 4-5 minute blocs, with ads coming just before and after news breaks, station ID pauses, and DJ talk.
THe DJs of that time carefully avoided all the noisy AM approaches to talking. They were all cooler, more laid back, and didn't indulge in all the sound effects that the AM jocks used, and their ads were well written and the DJ chatter kept things interesting by interspersing the ads with entertaining little local bits, comments, humor, etc.
They always played a lot more un-interuppted music as well. FM took off with the first concept record albums, where a band used a central theme and would sometimes do a single cut that lasted 10 minutes or more. The FM stations would often play one entire side of a 33 rpm record with no interruption.
Records like 'In Aggada Davida', or the Who's 'Tommy' only sounded at their best when played that way. 'Crimson & Clover', an enormous top 40 hit, had a full 6 minutes lopped out of it in the top 40 version. The only stations that played the song at full length were the FM stations.
The same was true with 'McArthur Park'- that one was about 13 minutes in length, and couldn't be edited. It, too was a huge hit, and although the AM stations were eventual forced to play it, the length was a huge problem for AM. The song was also very widely recorded, so on AM, converting it to a monophonic signal lost much of the drama the song contained.
McArthur Park was the groundbreaker. It came along just at the time when car radios included the FM band as standard equipment, and though the car radios were monophonic, the song's length made it the summer cruising song of the season. After McArthur Park, broadcasting began really changing fast.
It also showed all the musicians what a pop audience would tolerate. Before, all radio oriented songs were 3 minutes or less, but afterward, many of the best selling records featured songs that went on for 5 minutes or more, often with segues in between the cuts to make a seamless transition from one song to another.
Listening to the radio approached a concert experience for the first time, and both radio and the recording industry made massive amounts of money from it.
It's a different world today, but the stuff that started the FM revolution is still there. It's just on the internet now, not on the radio.
I'll cross post with development. Okay, there are readers who probably know the answer to this.
Sandhill Media's addition on Lindsay, should we anticipate a new Sandhill station in the future? Or is Sandhill doing something else with the extra space?
Thanks for the update.
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I do not understand what a kiddo in second grade needs an iPhone for, unless the kiddo is cheating on tests in the classroom. It's one thing to have the most simplistic phone for an emergency. What data plans would cover all the radio some listen to in a day? What about younger children or aging adults who can't see the dials or perform the multiple steps needed to listen with a SmartPhone?
, but not everyone. However, many who don't want to listen locally still listen via Sat. Radio stations. There is still a connection with a human on many stations, even if that is Howard Stern or others.
) )
Government took away my Iridum
)
