"Shortwave Awaits DRM in United States"
DRM Proponents Eye 2008 Olympics, 26 MHz Band

by Jeff White, 7.18.2007
The author is vice chairman of the U.S. DRM Group and president of the
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

ELKHART, Ind. U.S. shortwave broadcasters anticipate the availability
of the first low-cost Digital Radio Mondiale receiver by the end of
the year, though no DRM transmissions are originating yet in the
United States, despite FCC approval.

China may begin DRM transmissions in time for the 2008 Olympics,
spurring a global receiver launch and shortwave broadcasters from the
U.S., and other countries would like to use DRM on the 26 MHz band for
low-powered local FM-quality broadcasting.

These were the highlights of the U.S. DRM Group meeting, which was
held in May in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National
Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

Broadcasters, manufacturers and others interested in the progress of
DRM in North America gathered for their fourth annual meeting, held at
the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind.

About 60 persons attended the meeting, which included program
producers, station managers, network operators, marketing people,
shortwave listeners and consultants.

DRM sends text, graphics

"This is our big opportunity," said Mike Adams, chairman of U.S. DRM's
International Broadcasters Committee, "to get together each year and
find out what's going on with DRM in North America." Adams is an
engineer who monitors new technologies for Far East Broadcasting
Company, a worldwide religious broadcasting network.

FEBC's Mike Adams, TDF's Michel Penneroux and Continental's Don Spragg
lead a discussion about DRM's future in North America.

Herb Jacobson of HCJB began the meeting with a detailed explanation of
the basics of DRM -- its advantages to broadcasters and how it works.
He explained which popular shortwave transmitters are easy to convert
to DRM modulation and which ones are more difficult.

Don Spragg, formerly of HCJB and now working for Continental
Electronics -- which, along with other U.S. manufacturers Nautel, BE
and Harris, sells DRM transmitters -- explained that shortwave
broadcasters were really behind the origins of DRM because they wanted
a system to enable them to go digital.

DRM officially was launched in 2003 and it has expanded to AM,
longwave and now FM use as well.

Spragg said that DRM technology enables broadcasters to transmit in
various grades of audio and can carry up to four programs
simultaneously in one channel. DRM can be used to transmit voice,
music, text, graphics, slide shows and multiple languages. There are
currently 766 hours per day of DRM transmissions, according to the DRM
Consortium.

Most, but not all, of these transmissions are in Europe, including
those from Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems, which attended the meeting in
Elkhart. In the Americas, there are DRM transmissions from CBC Radio-
Canada in Sackville, New Brunswick; Telediffusion de France in French
Guiana, HCJB in Quito, Ecuador; Radio Netherlands in Bonaire; and
Christian Vision from Chile.

All of these facilities except Bonaire conducted special DRM
transmissions during the U.S. DRM meeting, and the monitoring station
in Elkhart was able to pick them all up with excellent reception. The
audio was FM mono quality.

There was also a special trans-Atlantic DRM test during the meeting
from Vatican Radio. The Vatican organ music and special conference
ID's were heard with excellent quality and a 21-27 dB signal-to-noise
ratio. Transmission power levels ranged from four kilowatts from Quito
up to 250 kW from Vatican Radio.

Receiver timeline fluid

"DRM has much to offer," concluded Spragg. "It's an exciting time. DRM
has an important place, especially if we're going to see a revival of
the shortwave broadcasting spectrum."

The current problem with DRM is that consumer-friendly receivers are
not yet available in North America. A few early receivers are now on
the market in Europe for as little as 200 euros, or about $270; but
improved versions are still being developed and have yet to hit the
store shelves.

For some time now, it has been possible to use certain shortwave
receivers connected to a personal computer with special DRM software
to listen to DRM transmissions. However, the goal is to have stand-
alone receivers that can pick up DRM signals without the need to
connect them to PCs. Recently, a few of these types of radios have
been released on the market in a small scale in Europe, even as
modifications and improvements continue to be made.

Michel Penneroux, chairman of the DRM Consortium's Commercial
Committee, said, "The problem is in this kind of situation, the
timelines of the various players are different from one to the other.
The broadcasters have one timeline. The transmitter industry has
another. The receiver industry has [yet another]. So you wait until
the retailers say 'We want this because the customers are interested
in this.'"

So far retailers like RadioShack have not yet shown much interest in
selling DRM receivers. "The numbers [they need] are very big," said
Penneroux, "with 2.5 billion receivers to renew worldwide.
Manufacturers are very secretive about what they want to do, what are
their plans, when they're going to launch. This is the reality."

Some participants at the meeting said that there may also be a role
for DRM in AM broadcasting in the United States, given the controversy
over problems with IBOC at night. They speculated that combined DRM/HD
Radio receivers might be on the horizon.

"We are building a digital radio world for the next 20 years," said
Penneroux. "We are expecting by around the end of this year the first
low-cost DRM receiver with an ST chipset. The receiver will be made in
China, will cost less than 50 U.S. dollars, and will have a high-
quality front-end."

2008 Olympics

In fact, China may be where the big global DRM boom begins.

The Chinese appear to be moving toward domestic DRM transmissions in
time for the 2008 Olympics, which would mean massive production of DRM
receivers that would be available to both the internal and worldwide
markets at low cost.

Several U.S.-based and European shortwave broadcasters plan to begin
DRM transmissions to China in time for the Olympics.

There is also a great deal of interest in the United States and other
countries in using DRM on the 26 MHz band for low-powered local FM-
quality broadcasting.

Participants in the meeting in Elkhart acknowledged that this would
involve regulatory hurdles, since the 26 MHz band is allocated to long-
distance international broadcasting. But the High Frequency
Coordinating Conference, where most shortwave frequency planning is
done worldwide, recently proposed a division of the band, with one
portion to be used for international broadcasting and the other part
for local DRM broadcasts.

So far no shortwave stations have begun DRM broadcasts from U.S. soil,
however the FCC has approved it and many stations are watching the
development of DRM and the receiver market.

No one wants to lose their current analog audience, but the concept of
transmitting on shortwave with an FM-quality signal and reducing their
electrical bills to a fraction of their current levels has most U.S.
international broadcasters keeping a close eye on DRM.

Jeff White is general manager of WRMI - Radio Miami International in
addition to his roles with the U.S. DRM Group and NASB.

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.7242.html

This sounds exactly like the situation with HD/IBOC - no one wants it,
except for the scammers peddling their hyped-products. Interesting,
that Radio Shack has shown little interest in DRM receivers - maybe,
they learned after getting burned with having to unload dust-
collecting HD/IBOC receivers. Digital radio is stalling everywhe

"Straining to hear digital radio - Europe has a head start in
terrestrial digital radio, but is anybody listening?"

"But today, digital radio is struggling to find its legs. While it's
still in the cradle in the United States, it has begun to crawl, a
bit, in Europe and elsewhere... Europe has had a standard for digital
radio for some time. The European Union adopted the standard, called
Eureka 147, 10 years ago. But high prices and a lack of consumer
interest have kept the market tiny."

http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=...524&ref=nb ra

"Annual DAB sales 50% below forecast"

"The following graphs are copied from the DRDB's (Digital Radio
Development Bureau -- UK DAB's marketing and PR arm) sales forecast
documents from 2004 and 2007, and they show that the forecast sales
for 2008 are a massive 50% below what the DRDB had previously forecast
they would be for 2008, and the cumulative sales will be 18% below
previously forecast by the end of this year and 30% below what they
had previously forecast by the end of next year."

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...w-forecast.php

On Jan 13, 10:36�am, IBOCcrock wrote:
"Shortwave Awaits DRM in United States"
DRM Proponents Eye 2008 Olympics, 26 MHz Band

by Jeff White, 7.18.2007
The author is vice chairman of the U.S. DRM Group and president of the
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

ELKHART, Ind. U.S. shortwave broadcasters anticipate the availability
of the first low-cost Digital Radio Mondiale receiver by the end of
the year, though no DRM transmissions are originating yet in the
United States, despite FCC approval.

China may begin DRM transmissions in time for the 2008 Olympics,
spurring a global receiver launch and shortwave broadcasters from the
U.S., and other countries would like to use DRM on the 26 MHz band for
low-powered local FM-quality broadcasting.

These were the highlights of the U.S. DRM Group meeting, which was
held in May in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National
Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

Broadcasters, manufacturers and others interested in the progress of
DRM in North America gathered for their fourth annual meeting, held at
the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind.

About 60 persons attended the meeting, which included program
producers, station managers, network operators, marketing people,
shortwave listeners and consultants.

DRM sends text, graphics

"This is our big opportunity," said Mike Adams, chairman of U.S. DRM's
International Broadcasters Committee, "to get together each year and
find out what's going on with DRM in North America." Adams is an
engineer who monitors new technologies for Far East Broadcasting
Company, a worldwide religious broadcasting network.

FEBC's Mike Adams, TDF's Michel Penneroux and Continental's Don Spragg
lead a discussion about DRM's future in North America.

Herb Jacobson of HCJB began the meeting with a detailed explanation of
the basics of DRM -- its advantages to broadcasters and how it works.
He explained which popular shortwave transmitters are easy to convert
to DRM modulation and which ones are more difficult.

Don Spragg, formerly of HCJB and now working for Continental
Electronics -- which, along with other U.S. manufacturers Nautel, BE
and Harris, sells DRM transmitters -- explained that shortwave
broadcasters were really behind the origins of DRM because they wanted
a system to enable them to go digital.

DRM officially was launched in 2003 and it has expanded to AM,
longwave and now FM use as well.

Spragg said that DRM technology enables broadcasters to transmit in
various grades of audio and can carry up to four programs
simultaneously in one channel. DRM can be used to transmit voice,
music, text, graphics, slide shows and multiple languages. There are
currently 766 hours per day of DRM transmissions, according to the DRM
Consortium.

Most, but not all, of these transmissions are in Europe, including
those from Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems, which attended the meeting in
Elkhart. In the Americas, there are DRM transmissions from CBC Radio-
Canada in Sackville, New Brunswick; Telediffusion de France in French
Guiana, HCJB in Quito, Ecuador; Radio Netherlands in Bonaire; and
Christian Vision from Chile.

All of these facilities except Bonaire conducted special DRM
transmissions during the U.S. DRM meeting, and the monitoring station
in Elkhart was able to pick them all up with excellent reception. The
audio was FM mono quality.

There was also a special trans-Atlantic DRM test during the meeting
from Vatican Radio. The Vatican organ music and special conference
ID's were heard with excellent quality and a 21-27 dB signal-to-noise
ratio. Transmission power levels ranged from four kilowatts from Quito
up to 250 kW from Vatican Radio.

Receiver timeline fluid

"DRM has much to offer," concluded Spragg. "It's an exciting time. DRM
has an important place, especially if we're going to see a revival of
the shortwave broadcasting spectrum."

The current problem with DRM is that consumer-friendly receivers are
not yet available in North America. A few early receivers are now on
the market in Europe for as little as 200 euros, or about $270; but
improved versions are still being developed and have yet to hit the
store shelves.

For some time now, it has been possible to use certain shortwave
receivers connected to a personal computer with special DRM software
to listen to DRM transmissions. However, the goal is to have stand-
alone receivers that can pick up DRM signals without the need to
connect them to PCs. Recently, a few of these types of radios have
been released on the market in a small scale in Europe, even as
modifications and improvements continue to be made.

Michel Penneroux, chairman of the DRM Consortium's Commercial
Committee, said, "The problem is in this kind of situation, the
timelines of the various players are different from one to the other.
The broadcasters have one timeline. The transmitter industry has
another. The receiver industry has [yet another]. So you wait until
the retailers say 'We want this because the customers are interested
in this.'"

So far retailers like RadioShack have not yet shown much interest in
selling DRM receivers. "The numbers [they need] are very big," said
Penneroux, "with 2.5 billion receivers to renew worldwide.
Manufacturers are very secretive about what they want to do, what are
their plans, when they're going to launch. This is the reality."

Some participants at the meeting said that there may also be a role
for DRM in AM broadcasting in the United States, given the controversy
over problems with IBOC at night. They speculated that combined DRM/HD
Radio receivers might be on the horizon.

"We are building a digital radio world for the next 20 years," said
Penneroux. "We are expecting by around the end of this year the first
low-cost DRM receiver with an ST chipset. The receiver will be made in
China, will cost less than 50 U.S. dollars, and will have a high-
quality front-end."

2008 Olympics

In fact, China may be where the big global DRM boom begins.

The Chinese appear to be moving toward domestic DRM transmissions in
time for the 2008 Olympics, which would mean massive production of DRM
receivers that would be available to both the internal and worldwide
markets at low cost.

Several U.S.-based and European shortwave broadcasters plan to begin
DRM transmissions to China in time for the Olympics.

There is also a great deal of interest in the United States and other
countries in using DRM on the 26 MHz band for low-powered local FM-
quality broadcasting.

Participants in the meeting in Elkhart acknowledged that this would
involve regulatory hurdles, since the 26 MHz band is allocated to long-
distance international broadcasting. But the High Frequency
Coordinating Conference, where most shortwave frequency planning is
done worldwide, recently proposed a division of the band, with one
portion to be used for international broadcasting and the other part
for local DRM broadcasts.

So far no shortwave stations have begun DRM broadcasts from U.S. soil,
however the FCC has approved it and many stations are watching the
development of DRM and the receiver market.

No one wants to lose their current analog audience, but the concept of
transmitting on shortwave with an FM-quality signal and reducing their
electrical bills to a fraction of their current levels has most U.S.
international broadcasters keeping a close eye on DRM.

Jeff White is general manager of WRMI - Radio Miami International in
addition to his roles with the U.S. DRM Group and NASB.

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.7242.html

This sounds exactly like the situation with HD/IBOC - no one wants it,
except for the scammers peddling their hyped-products. Interesting,
that Radio Shack has shown little interest in DRM receivers - maybe,
they learned after getting burned with having to unload dust-
collecting HD/IBOC receivers. Digital radio is stalling everywhe

"Straining to hear digital radio - Europe has a head start in
terrestrial digital radio, but is anybody listening?"

"But today, digital radio is struggling to find its legs. While it's
still in the cradle in the United States, it has begun to crawl, a
bit, in Europe and elsewhere... Europe has had a standard for digital
radio for some time. The European Union adopted the standard, called
Eureka 147, 10 years ago. But high prices and a lack of consumer
interest have kept the market tiny."

http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=...524&ref=nb ra

"Annual DAB sales 50% below forecast"

"The following graphs are copied from the DRDB's (Digital Radio
Development Bureau -- UK DAB's marketing and PR arm) sales forecast
documents from 2004 and 2007, and they show that the forecast sales
for 2008 are a massive 50% below what the DRDB had previously forecast
they would be for 2008, and the cumulative sales will be 18% below
previously forecast by the end of this year and 30% below what they
had previously forecast by the end of next year."

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...ales-50-below-...

By John Plunkett
guardian.co.uk,
January 10 2008

Digital radio will suffer a double blow this weekend with the closure
of two
national digital stations, Oneword and Core.

GCap Media's music station Core is expected to close tomorrow, while
UBC's
spoken word outfit Oneword, whose future has long been in doubt, will
cease
broadcasting on Saturday.

Both stations were broadcast via digital audio broadcasting (DAB) on
Digital
One, the national digital radio multiplex majority-owned by GCap.

In a dramatic scaling back of GCap's digital offerings, its digital
music
station Life is also set to close while its chillout station, Chill,
has
been removed from the Sky Digital platform. It continues to broadcast
on
regional DAB multiplexes and online.

GCap's other digital-only stations are TheJazz and Planet Rock, which
both
remain on Digital One. TheJazz, which has just celebrated its first
birthday, has upped its capacity on Digital One and now broadcasts in
stereo.

Oneword, which was launched by UBC in 2000, was part-owned with
Channel 4
until the broadcaster sold its 51% stake, bought for �1 million in
2005,
back to UBC for �1 in the run-up to Christmas.

UBC, as the sole shareholder, will close the station, which plays a
mixture
of books, comedy, drama and reviews, on Saturday.

Oneword had 151,000 listeners in the third quarter of last year,
according
to the latest Rajar figures, but its prospects suffered a serious blow
after
the BBC launched its own spoken word digital station, BBC7.

"Unfortunately Oneword will no longer be broadcasting from Saturday
January
12," said a statement on the Oneword website.

"We are genuinely grateful to all our listeners for their loyal and
continued support over the last eight years. We wish you a very happy
2008."

GCap's Core, which launched in 1999, became a jukebox music station in
March
last year when it took its presenters off air. It had 122,000
listeners in
the third quarter of last year.

Digital One is in negotiation with a number of potential operators
about
filling the vacant berths on the national multiplex

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008...adio.gcapmedia...


http://groups.google.com/group/alt.r...9608a881540c2a

There goes the start of the downfall of the digital radio farce in the
UK !

On Jan 13, 10:55 am, IBOCcrock wrote:
On Jan 13, 10:36�am, IBOCcrock wrote:



"Shortwave Awaits DRM in United States"
DRM Proponents Eye 2008 Olympics, 26 MHz Band

by Jeff White, 7.18.2007
The author is vice chairman of the U.S. DRM Group and president of the
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

ELKHART, Ind. U.S. shortwave broadcasters anticipate the availability
of the first low-cost Digital Radio Mondiale receiver by the end of
the year, though no DRM transmissions are originating yet in the
United States, despite FCC approval.

China may begin DRM transmissions in time for the 2008 Olympics,
spurring a global receiver launch and shortwave broadcasters from the
U.S., and other countries would like to use DRM on the 26 MHz band for
low-powered local FM-quality broadcasting.

These were the highlights of the U.S. DRM Group meeting, which was
held in May in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National
Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

Broadcasters, manufacturers and others interested in the progress of
DRM in North America gathered for their fourth annual meeting, held at
the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind.

About 60 persons attended the meeting, which included program
producers, station managers, network operators, marketing people,
shortwave listeners and consultants.

DRM sends text, graphics

"This is our big opportunity," said Mike Adams, chairman of U.S. DRM's
International Broadcasters Committee, "to get together each year and
find out what's going on with DRM in North America." Adams is an
engineer who monitors new technologies for Far East Broadcasting
Company, a worldwide religious broadcasting network.

FEBC's Mike Adams, TDF's Michel Penneroux and Continental's Don Spragg
lead a discussion about DRM's future in North America.

Herb Jacobson of HCJB began the meeting with a detailed explanation of
the basics of DRM -- its advantages to broadcasters and how it works.
He explained which popular shortwave transmitters are easy to convert
to DRM modulation and which ones are more difficult.

Don Spragg, formerly of HCJB and now working for Continental
Electronics -- which, along with other U.S. manufacturers Nautel, BE
and Harris, sells DRM transmitters -- explained that shortwave
broadcasters were really behind the origins of DRM because they wanted
a system to enable them to go digital.

DRM officially was launched in 2003 and it has expanded to AM,
longwave and now FM use as well.

Spragg said that DRM technology enables broadcasters to transmit in
various grades of audio and can carry up to four programs
simultaneously in one channel. DRM can be used to transmit voice,
music, text, graphics, slide shows and multiple languages. There are
currently 766 hours per day of DRM transmissions, according to the DRM
Consortium.

Most, but not all, of these transmissions are in Europe, including
those from Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems, which attended the meeting in
Elkhart. In the Americas, there are DRM transmissions from CBC Radio-
Canada in Sackville, New Brunswick; Telediffusion de France in French
Guiana, HCJB in Quito, Ecuador; Radio Netherlands in Bonaire; and
Christian Vision from Chile.

All of these facilities except Bonaire conducted special DRM
transmissions during the U.S. DRM meeting, and the monitoring station
in Elkhart was able to pick them all up with excellent reception. The
audio was FM mono quality.

There was also a special trans-Atlantic DRM test during the meeting
from Vatican Radio. The Vatican organ music and special conference
ID's were heard with excellent quality and a 21-27 dB signal-to-noise
ratio. Transmission power levels ranged from four kilowatts from Quito
up to 250 kW from Vatican Radio.

Receiver timeline fluid

"DRM has much to offer," concluded Spragg. "It's an exciting time. DRM
has an important place, especially if we're going to see a revival of
the shortwave broadcasting spectrum."

The current problem with DRM is that consumer-friendly receivers are
not yet available in North America. A few early receivers are now on
the market in Europe for as little as 200 euros, or about $270; but
improved versions are still being developed and have yet to hit the
store shelves.

For some time now, it has been possible to use certain shortwave
receivers connected to a personal computer with special DRM software
to listen to DRM transmissions. However, the goal is to have stand-
alone receivers that can pick up DRM signals without the need to
connect them to PCs. Recently, a few of these types of radios have
been released on the market in a small scale in Europe, even as
modifications and improvements continue to be made.

Michel Penneroux, chairman of the DRM Consortium's Commercial
Committee, said, "The problem is in this kind of situation, the
timelines of the various players are different from one to the other.
The broadcasters have one timeline. The transmitter industry has
another. The receiver industry has [yet another]. So you wait until
the retailers say 'We want this because the customers are interested
in this.'"

So far retailers like RadioShack have not yet shown much interest in
selling DRM receivers. "The numbers [they need] are very big," said
Penneroux, "with 2.5 billion receivers to renew worldwide.
Manufacturers are very secretive about what they want to do, what are
their plans, when they're going to launch. This is the reality."

Some participants at the meeting said that there may also be a role
for DRM in AM broadcasting in the United States, given the controversy
over problems with IBOC at night. They speculated that combined DRM/HD
Radio receivers might be on the horizon.

"We are building a digital radio world for the next 20 years," said
Penneroux. "We are expecting by around the end of this year the first
low-cost DRM receiver with an ST chipset. The receiver will be made in
China, will cost less than 50 U.S. dollars, and will have a high-
quality front-end."

2008 Olympics

In fact, China may be where the big global DRM boom begins.

The Chinese appear to be moving toward domestic DRM transmissions in
time for the 2008 Olympics, which would mean massive production of DRM
receivers that would be available to both the internal and worldwide
markets at low cost.

Several U.S.-based and European shortwave broadcasters plan to begin
DRM transmissions to China in time for the Olympics.

There is also a great deal of interest in the United States and other
countries in using DRM on the 26 MHz band for low-powered local FM-
quality broadcasting.

Participants in the meeting in Elkhart acknowledged that this would
involve regulatory hurdles, since the 26 MHz band is allocated to long-
distance international broadcasting. But the High Frequency
Coordinating Conference, where most shortwave frequency planning is
done worldwide, recently proposed a division of the band, with one
portion to be used for international broadcasting and the other part
for local DRM broadcasts.

So far no shortwave stations have begun DRM broadcasts from U.S. soil,
however the FCC has approved it and many stations are watching the
development of DRM and the receiver market.

No one wants to lose their current analog audience, but the concept of
transmitting on shortwave with an FM-quality signal and reducing their
electrical bills to a fraction of their current levels has most U.S.
international broadcasters keeping a close eye on DRM.

Jeff White is general manager of WRMI - Radio Miami International in
addition to his roles with the U.S. DRM Group and NASB.

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.7242.html

This sounds exactly like the situation with HD/IBOC - no one wants it,
except for the scammers peddling their hyped-products. Interesting,
that Radio Shack has shown little interest in DRM receivers - maybe,
they learned after getting burned with having to unload dust-
collecting HD/IBOC receivers. Digital radio is stalling everywhe

"Straining to hear digital radio - Europe has a head start in
terrestrial digital radio, but is anybody listening?"

"But today, digital radio is struggling to find its legs. While it's
still in the cradle in the United States, it has begun to crawl, a
bit, in Europe and elsewhere... Europe has had a standard for digital
radio for some time. The European Union adopted the standard, called
Eureka 147, 10 years ago. But high prices and a lack of consumer
interest have kept the market tiny."

http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=...524&ref=nb ra

"Annual DAB sales 50% below forecast"

"The following graphs are copied from the DRDB's (Digital Radio
Development Bureau -- UK DAB's marketing and PR arm) sales forecast
documents from 2004 and 2007, and they show that the forecast sales
for 2008 are a massive 50% below what the DRDB had previously forecast
they would be for 2008, and the cumulative sales will be 18% below
previously forecast by the end of this year and 30% below what they
had previously forecast by the end of next year."

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...ales-50-below-...

By John Plunkett
guardian.co.uk,
January 10 2008

Digital radio will suffer a double blow this weekend with the closure
of two
national digital stations, Oneword and Core.

GCap Media's music station Core is expected to close tomorrow, while
UBC's
spoken word outfit Oneword, whose future has long been in doubt, will
cease
broadcasting on Saturday.

Both stations were broadcast via digital audio broadcasting (DAB) on
Digital
One, the national digital radio multiplex majority-owned by GCap.

In a dramatic scaling back of GCap's digital offerings, its digital
music
station ...

read more »

I personally love it and I'm looking forward to the demise of HD radio
in the US.
jw

Rfburns wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:55 am, IBOCcrock wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:36�am, IBOCcrock wrote:




"Shortwave Awaits DRM in United States"
DRM Proponents Eye 2008 Olympics, 26 MHz Band

by Jeff White, 7.18.2007
The author is vice chairman of the U.S. DRM Group and president of the
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

ELKHART, Ind. U.S. shortwave broadcasters anticipate the availability
of the first low-cost Digital Radio Mondiale receiver by the end of
the year, though no DRM transmissions are originating yet in the
United States, despite FCC approval.

China may begin DRM transmissions in time for the 2008 Olympics,
spurring a global receiver launch and shortwave broadcasters from the
U.S., and other countries would like to use DRM on the 26 MHz band for
low-powered local FM-quality broadcasting.

These were the highlights of the U.S. DRM Group meeting, which was
held in May in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National
Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

Broadcasters, manufacturers and others interested in the progress of
DRM in North America gathered for their fourth annual meeting, held at
the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind.

About 60 persons attended the meeting, which included program
producers, station managers, network operators, marketing people,
shortwave listeners and consultants.

DRM sends text, graphics

"This is our big opportunity," said Mike Adams, chairman of U.S. DRM's
International Broadcasters Committee, "to get together each year and
find out what's going on with DRM in North America." Adams is an
engineer who monitors new technologies for Far East Broadcasting
Company, a worldwide religious broadcasting network.

FEBC's Mike Adams, TDF's Michel Penneroux and Continental's Don Spragg
lead a discussion about DRM's future in North America.

Herb Jacobson of HCJB began the meeting with a detailed explanation of
the basics of DRM -- its advantages to broadcasters and how it works.
He explained which popular shortwave transmitters are easy to convert
to DRM modulation and which ones are more difficult.

Don Spragg, formerly of HCJB and now working for Continental
Electronics -- which, along with other U.S. manufacturers Nautel, BE
and Harris, sells DRM transmitters -- explained that shortwave
broadcasters were really behind the origins of DRM because they wanted
a system to enable them to go digital.

DRM officially was launched in 2003 and it has expanded to AM,
longwave and now FM use as well.

Spragg said that DRM technology enables broadcasters to transmit in
various grades of audio and can carry up to four programs
simultaneously in one channel. DRM can be used to transmit voice,
music, text, graphics, slide shows and multiple languages. There are
currently 766 hours per day of DRM transmissions, according to the DRM
Consortium.

Most, but not all, of these transmissions are in Europe, including
those from Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems, which attended the meeting in
Elkhart. In the Americas, there are DRM transmissions from CBC Radio-
Canada in Sackville, New Brunswick; Telediffusion de France in French
Guiana, HCJB in Quito, Ecuador; Radio Netherlands in Bonaire; and
Christian Vision from Chile.

All of these facilities except Bonaire conducted special DRM
transmissions during the U.S. DRM meeting, and the monitoring station
in Elkhart was able to pick them all up with excellent reception. The
audio was FM mono quality.

There was also a special trans-Atlantic DRM test during the meeting
from Vatican Radio. The Vatican organ music and special conference
ID's were heard with excellent quality and a 21-27 dB signal-to-noise
ratio. Transmission power levels ranged from four kilowatts from Quito
up to 250 kW from Vatican Radio.

Receiver timeline fluid

"DRM has much to offer," concluded Spragg. "It's an exciting time. DRM
has an important place, especially if we're going to see a revival of
the shortwave broadcasting spectrum."

The current problem with DRM is that consumer-friendly receivers are
not yet available in North America. A few early receivers are now on
the market in Europe for as little as 200 euros, or about $270; but
improved versions are still being developed and have yet to hit the
store shelves.

For some time now, it has been possible to use certain shortwave
receivers connected to a personal computer with special DRM software
to listen to DRM transmissions. However, the goal is to have stand-
alone receivers that can pick up DRM signals without the need to
connect them to PCs. Recently, a few of these types of radios have
been released on the market in a small scale in Europe, even as
modifications and improvements continue to be made.

Michel Penneroux, chairman of the DRM Consortium's Commercial
Committee, said, "The problem is in this kind of situation, the
timelines of the various players are different from one to the other.
The broadcasters have one timeline. The transmitter industry has
another. The receiver industry has [yet another]. So you wait until
the retailers say 'We want this because the customers are interested
in this.'"

So far retailers like RadioShack have not yet shown much interest in
selling DRM receivers. "The numbers [they need] are very big," said
Penneroux, "with 2.5 billion receivers to renew worldwide.
Manufacturers are very secretive about what they want to do, what are
their plans, when they're going to launch. This is the reality."

Some participants at the meeting said that there may also be a role
for DRM in AM broadcasting in the United States, given the controversy
over problems with IBOC at night. They speculated that combined DRM/HD
Radio receivers might be on the horizon.

"We are building a digital radio world for the next 20 years," said
Penneroux. "We are expecting by around the end of this year the first
low-cost DRM receiver with an ST chipset. The receiver will be made in
China, will cost less than 50 U.S. dollars, and will have a high-
quality front-end."

2008 Olympics

In fact, China may be where the big global DRM boom begins.

The Chinese appear to be moving toward domestic DRM transmissions in
time for the 2008 Olympics, which would mean massive production of DRM
receivers that would be available to both the internal and worldwide
markets at low cost.

Several U.S.-based and European shortwave broadcasters plan to begin
DRM transmissions to China in time for the Olympics.

There is also a great deal of interest in the United States and other
countries in using DRM on the 26 MHz band for low-powered local FM-
quality broadcasting.

Participants in the meeting in Elkhart acknowledged that this would
involve regulatory hurdles, since the 26 MHz band is allocated to long-
distance international broadcasting. But the High Frequency
Coordinating Conference, where most shortwave frequency planning is
done worldwide, recently proposed a division of the band, with one
portion to be used for international broadcasting and the other part
for local DRM broadcasts.

So far no shortwave stations have begun DRM broadcasts from U.S. soil,
however the FCC has approved it and many stations are watching the
development of DRM and the receiver market.

No one wants to lose their current analog audience, but the concept of
transmitting on shortwave with an FM-quality signal and reducing their
electrical bills to a fraction of their current levels has most U.S.
international broadcasters keeping a close eye on DRM.

Jeff White is general manager of WRMI - Radio Miami International in
addition to his roles with the U.S. DRM Group and NASB.

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.7242.html

This sounds exactly like the situation with HD/IBOC - no one wants it,
except for the scammers peddling their hyped-products. Interesting,
that Radio Shack has shown little interest in DRM receivers - maybe,
they learned after getting burned with having to unload dust-
collecting HD/IBOC receivers. Digital radio is stalling everywhe

"Straining to hear digital radio - Europe has a head start in
terrestrial digital radio, but is anybody listening?"

"But today, digital radio is struggling to find its legs. While it's
still in the cradle in the United States, it has begun to crawl, a
bit, in Europe and elsewhere... Europe has had a standard for digital
radio for some time. The European Union adopted the standard, called
Eureka 147, 10 years ago. But high prices and a lack of consumer
interest have kept the market tiny."

http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=...524&ref=nb ra

"Annual DAB sales 50% below forecast"

"The following graphs are copied from the DRDB's (Digital Radio
Development Bureau -- UK DAB's marketing and PR arm) sales forecast
documents from 2004 and 2007, and they show that the forecast sales
for 2008 are a massive 50% below what the DRDB had previously forecast
they would be for 2008, and the cumulative sales will be 18% below
previously forecast by the end of this year and 30% below what they
had previously forecast by the end of next year."

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...ales-50-below-...

By John Plunkett
guardian.co.uk,
January 10 2008

Digital radio will suffer a double blow this weekend with the closure
of two
national digital stations, Oneword and Core.

GCap Media's music station Core is expected to close tomorrow, while
UBC's
spoken word outfit Oneword, whose future has long been in doubt, will
cease
broadcasting on Saturday.

Both stations were broadcast via digital audio broadcasting (DAB) on
Digital
One, the national digital radio multiplex majority-owned by GCap.

In a dramatic scaling back of GCap's digital offerings, its digital
music
station ...

read more »


I personally love it and I'm looking forward to the demise of HD radio
in the US.
jw

Shortwwave is not all about listening to advanced cultures in
well-established developed countries with wherewithal to promote
themselves on most the more advanced medium. Shortwave is more about
listening to and being able to get stations in countries, locations
around the world that are seldom heard, who have few stations if they
have more than one, broadcast at short spurts at odd times to other
countries, and do not broadcast in digital. I know you are all the
experts, but please, do not turn shortwave into the same kind of mess
that the government is turning television into. Perhaps those of you
who are serious about your efforts want only the latest equipment, and
are most satisfied when you have to go out and buy some new gadget, but
I, for one, do not like to have to change equipment that is perfectly
fine for my purposes. I know that at some point, the promoters of
digital may prevail, but I hope it is not in my lifetime.

pat wrote:
Rfburns wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:55 am, IBOCcrock wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:36�am, IBOCcrock wrote:




"Shortwave Awaits DRM in United States"
DRM Proponents Eye 2008 Olympics, 26 MHz Band

by Jeff White, 7.18.2007
The author is vice chairman of the U.S. DRM Group and president of the
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

ELKHART, Ind. U.S. shortwave broadcasters anticipate the availability
of the first low-cost Digital Radio Mondiale receiver by the end of
the year, though no DRM transmissions are originating yet in the
United States, despite FCC approval.

China may begin DRM transmissions in time for the 2008 Olympics,
spurring a global receiver launch and shortwave broadcasters from the
U.S., and other countries would like to use DRM on the 26 MHz band for
low-powered local FM-quality broadcasting.

These were the highlights of the U.S. DRM Group meeting, which was
held in May in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National
Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

Broadcasters, manufacturers and others interested in the progress of
DRM in North America gathered for their fourth annual meeting, held at
the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind.

About 60 persons attended the meeting, which included program
producers, station managers, network operators, marketing people,
shortwave listeners and consultants.

DRM sends text, graphics

"This is our big opportunity," said Mike Adams, chairman of U.S. DRM's
International Broadcasters Committee, "to get together each year and
find out what's going on with DRM in North America." Adams is an
engineer who monitors new technologies for Far East Broadcasting
Company, a worldwide religious broadcasting network.

FEBC's Mike Adams, TDF's Michel Penneroux and Continental's Don Spragg
lead a discussion about DRM's future in North America.

Herb Jacobson of HCJB began the meeting with a detailed explanation of
the basics of DRM -- its advantages to broadcasters and how it works.
He explained which popular shortwave transmitters are easy to convert
to DRM modulation and which ones are more difficult.

Don Spragg, formerly of HCJB and now working for Continental
Electronics -- which, along with other U.S. manufacturers Nautel, BE
and Harris, sells DRM transmitters -- explained that shortwave
broadcasters were really behind the origins of DRM because they wanted
a system to enable them to go digital.

DRM officially was launched in 2003 and it has expanded to AM,
longwave and now FM use as well.

Spragg said that DRM technology enables broadcasters to transmit in
various grades of audio and can carry up to four programs
simultaneously in one channel. DRM can be used to transmit voice,
music, text, graphics, slide shows and multiple languages. There are
currently 766 hours per day of DRM transmissions, according to the DRM
Consortium.

Most, but not all, of these transmissions are in Europe, including
those from Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems, which attended the meeting in
Elkhart. In the Americas, there are DRM transmissions from CBC Radio-
Canada in Sackville, New Brunswick; Telediffusion de France in French
Guiana, HCJB in Quito, Ecuador; Radio Netherlands in Bonaire; and
Christian Vision from Chile.

All of these facilities except Bonaire conducted special DRM
transmissions during the U.S. DRM meeting, and the monitoring station
in Elkhart was able to pick them all up with excellent reception. The
audio was FM mono quality.

There was also a special trans-Atlantic DRM test during the meeting
from Vatican Radio. The Vatican organ music and special conference
ID's were heard with excellent quality and a 21-27 dB signal-to-noise
ratio. Transmission power levels ranged from four kilowatts from Quito
up to 250 kW from Vatican Radio.

Receiver timeline fluid

"DRM has much to offer," concluded Spragg. "It's an exciting time. DRM
has an important place, especially if we're going to see a revival of
the shortwave broadcasting spectrum."

The current problem with DRM is that consumer-friendly receivers are
not yet available in North America. A few early receivers are now on
the market in Europe for as little as 200 euros, or about $270; but
improved versions are still being developed and have yet to hit the
store shelves.

For some time now, it has been possible to use certain shortwave
receivers connected to a personal computer with special DRM software
to listen to DRM transmissions. However, the goal is to have stand-
alone receivers that can pick up DRM signals without the need to
connect them to PCs. Recently, a few of these types of radios have
been released on the market in a small scale in Europe, even as
modifications and improvements continue to be made.

Michel Penneroux, chairman of the DRM Consortium's Commercial
Committee, said, "The problem is in this kind of situation, the
timelines of the various players are different from one to the other.
The broadcasters have one timeline. The transmitter industry has
another. The receiver industry has [yet another]. So you wait until
the retailers say 'We want this because the customers are interested
in this.'"

So far retailers like RadioShack have not yet shown much interest in
selling DRM receivers. "The numbers [they need] are very big," said
Penneroux, "with 2.5 billion receivers to renew worldwide.
Manufacturers are very secretive about what they want to do, what are
their plans, when they're going to launch. This is the reality."

Some participants at the meeting said that there may also be a role
for DRM in AM broadcasting in the United States, given the controversy
over problems with IBOC at night. They speculated that combined DRM/HD
Radio receivers might be on the horizon.

"We are building a digital radio world for the next 20 years," said
Penneroux. "We are expecting by around the end of this year the first
low-cost DRM receiver with an ST chipset. The receiver will be made in
China, will cost less than 50 U.S. dollars, and will have a high-
quality front-end."

2008 Olympics

In fact, China may be where the big global DRM boom begins.

The Chinese appear to be moving toward domestic DRM transmissions in
time for the 2008 Olympics, which would mean massive production of DRM
receivers that would be available to both the internal and worldwide
markets at low cost.

Several U.S.-based and European shortwave broadcasters plan to begin
DRM transmissions to China in time for the Olympics.

There is also a great deal of interest in the United States and other
countries in using DRM on the 26 MHz band for low-powered local FM-
quality broadcasting.

Participants in the meeting in Elkhart acknowledged that this would
involve regulatory hurdles, since the 26 MHz band is allocated to long-
distance international broadcasting. But the High Frequency
Coordinating Conference, where most shortwave frequency planning is
done worldwide, recently proposed a division of the band, with one
portion to be used for international broadcasting and the other part
for local DRM broadcasts.

So far no shortwave stations have begun DRM broadcasts from U.S. soil,
however the FCC has approved it and many stations are watching the
development of DRM and the receiver market.

No one wants to lose their current analog audience, but the concept of
transmitting on shortwave with an FM-quality signal and reducing their
electrical bills to a fraction of their current levels has most U.S.
international broadcasters keeping a close eye on DRM.

Jeff White is general manager of WRMI - Radio Miami International in
addition to his roles with the U.S. DRM Group and NASB.

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.7242.html

This sounds exactly like the situation with HD/IBOC - no one wants it,
except for the scammers peddling their hyped-products. Interesting,
that Radio Shack has shown little interest in DRM receivers - maybe,
they learned after getting burned with having to unload dust-
collecting HD/IBOC receivers. Digital radio is stalling everywhe

"Straining to hear digital radio - Europe has a head start in
terrestrial digital radio, but is anybody listening?"

"But today, digital radio is struggling to find its legs. While it's
still in the cradle in the United States, it has begun to crawl, a
bit, in Europe and elsewhere... Europe has had a standard for digital
radio for some time. The European Union adopted the standard, called
Eureka 147, 10 years ago. But high prices and a lack of consumer
interest have kept the market tiny."

http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=...524&ref=nb ra

"Annual DAB sales 50% below forecast"

"The following graphs are copied from the DRDB's (Digital Radio
Development Bureau -- UK DAB's marketing and PR arm) sales forecast
documents from 2004 and 2007, and they show that the forecast sales
for 2008 are a massive 50% below what the DRDB had previously forecast
they would be for 2008, and the cumulative sales will be 18% below
previously forecast by the end of this year and 30% below what they
had previously forecast by the end of next year."

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...ales-50-below-...


By John Plunkett
guardian.co.uk,
January 10 2008

Digital radio will suffer a double blow this weekend with the closure
of two
national digital stations, Oneword and Core.

GCap Media's music station Core is expected to close tomorrow, while
UBC's
spoken word outfit Oneword, whose future has long been in doubt, will
cease
broadcasting on Saturday.

Both stations were broadcast via digital audio broadcasting (DAB) on
Digital
One, the national digital radio multiplex majority-owned by GCap.

In a dramatic scaling back of GCap's digital offerings, its digital
music
station ...

read more »


I personally love it and I'm looking forward to the demise of HD radio
in the US.
jw

Shortwwave is not all about listening to advanced cultures in
well-established developed countries with wherewithal to promote
themselves on most the more advanced medium. Shortwave is more about
listening to and being able to get stations in countries, locations
around the world that are seldom heard, who have few stations if they
have more than one, broadcast at short spurts at odd times to other
countries, and do not broadcast in digital. I know you are all the
experts, but please, do not turn shortwave into the same kind of mess
that the government is turning television into. Perhaps those of you
who are serious about your efforts want only the latest equipment, and
are most satisfied when you have to go out and buy some new gadget, but
I, for one, do not like to have to change equipment that is perfectly
fine for my purposes. I know that at some point, the promoters of
digital may prevail, but I hope it is not in my lifetime.

???

HF broadcasting is a joke in the era of the internets.

In article ,
dave wrote:

pat wrote:
Rfburns wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:55 am, IBOCcrock wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:36?am, IBOCcrock wrote:




"Shortwave Awaits DRM in United States" DRM Proponents Eye 2008
Olympics, 26 MHz Band

by Jeff White, 7.18.2007 The author is vice chairman of the U.S.
DRM Group and president of the National Association of Shortwave
Broadcasters.

ELKHART, Ind. U.S. shortwave broadcasters anticipate the
availability of the first low-cost Digital Radio Mondiale
receiver by the end of the year, though no DRM transmissions are
originating yet in the United States, despite FCC approval.

China may begin DRM transmissions in time for the 2008 Olympics,
spurring a global receiver launch and shortwave broadcasters
from the U.S., and other countries would like to use DRM on the
26 MHz band for low-powered local FM-quality broadcasting.

These were the highlights of the U.S. DRM Group meeting, which
was held in May in conjunction with the annual meeting of the
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

Broadcasters, manufacturers and others interested in the
progress of DRM in North America gathered for their fourth
annual meeting, held at the HCJB Global Technology Center in
Elkhart, Ind.

About 60 persons attended the meeting, which included program
producers, station managers, network operators, marketing
people, shortwave listeners and consultants.

DRM sends text, graphics

"This is our big opportunity," said Mike Adams, chairman of U.S.
DRM's International Broadcasters Committee, "to get together
each year and find out what's going on with DRM in North
America." Adams is an engineer who monitors new technologies for
Far East Broadcasting Company, a worldwide religious
broadcasting network.

FEBC's Mike Adams, TDF's Michel Penneroux and Continental's Don
Spragg lead a discussion about DRM's future in North America.

Herb Jacobson of HCJB began the meeting with a detailed
explanation of the basics of DRM -- its advantages to
broadcasters and how it works. He explained which popular
shortwave transmitters are easy to convert to DRM modulation and
which ones are more difficult.

Don Spragg, formerly of HCJB and now working for Continental
Electronics -- which, along with other U.S. manufacturers
Nautel, BE and Harris, sells DRM transmitters -- explained that
shortwave broadcasters were really behind the origins of DRM
because they wanted a system to enable them to go digital.

DRM officially was launched in 2003 and it has expanded to AM,
longwave and now FM use as well.

Spragg said that DRM technology enables broadcasters to transmit
in various grades of audio and can carry up to four programs
simultaneously in one channel. DRM can be used to transmit
voice, music, text, graphics, slide shows and multiple
languages. There are currently 766 hours per day of DRM
transmissions, according to the DRM Consortium.

Most, but not all, of these transmissions are in Europe,
including those from Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems, which
attended the meeting in Elkhart. In the Americas, there are DRM
transmissions from CBC Radio- Canada in Sackville, New
Brunswick; Telediffusion de France in French Guiana, HCJB in
Quito, Ecuador; Radio Netherlands in Bonaire; and Christian
Vision from Chile.

All of these facilities except Bonaire conducted special DRM
transmissions during the U.S. DRM meeting, and the monitoring
station in Elkhart was able to pick them all up with excellent
reception. The audio was FM mono quality.

There was also a special trans-Atlantic DRM test during the
meeting from Vatican Radio. The Vatican organ music and special
conference ID's were heard with excellent quality and a 21-27 dB
signal-to-noise ratio. Transmission power levels ranged from
four kilowatts from Quito up to 250 kW from Vatican Radio.

Receiver timeline fluid

"DRM has much to offer," concluded Spragg. "It's an exciting
time. DRM has an important place, especially if we're going to
see a revival of the shortwave broadcasting spectrum."

The current problem with DRM is that consumer-friendly receivers
are not yet available in North America. A few early receivers
are now on the market in Europe for as little as 200 euros, or
about $270; but improved versions are still being developed and
have yet to hit the store shelves.

For some time now, it has been possible to use certain shortwave
receivers connected to a personal computer with special DRM
software to listen to DRM transmissions. However, the goal is to
have stand- alone receivers that can pick up DRM signals without
the need to connect them to PCs. Recently, a few of these types
of radios have been released on the market in a small scale in
Europe, even as modifications and improvements continue to be
made.

Michel Penneroux, chairman of the DRM Consortium's Commercial
Committee, said, "The problem is in this kind of situation, the
timelines of the various players are different from one to the
other. The broadcasters have one timeline. The transmitter
industry has another. The receiver industry has [yet another].
So you wait until the retailers say 'We want this because the
customers are interested in this.'"

So far retailers like RadioShack have not yet shown much
interest in selling DRM receivers. "The numbers [they need] are
very big," said Penneroux, "with 2.5 billion receivers to renew
worldwide. Manufacturers are very secretive about what they want
to do, what are their plans, when they're going to launch. This
is the reality."

Some participants at the meeting said that there may also be a
role for DRM in AM broadcasting in the United States, given the
controversy over problems with IBOC at night. They speculated
that combined DRM/HD Radio receivers might be on the horizon.

"We are building a digital radio world for the next 20 years,"
said Penneroux. "We are expecting by around the end of this year
the first low-cost DRM receiver with an ST chipset. The receiver
will be made in China, will cost less than 50 U.S. dollars, and
will have a high- quality front-end."

2008 Olympics

In fact, China may be where the big global DRM boom begins.

The Chinese appear to be moving toward domestic DRM
transmissions in time for the 2008 Olympics, which would mean
massive production of DRM receivers that would be available to
both the internal and worldwide markets at low cost.

Several U.S.-based and European shortwave broadcasters plan to
begin DRM transmissions to China in time for the Olympics.

There is also a great deal of interest in the United States and
other countries in using DRM on the 26 MHz band for low-powered
local FM- quality broadcasting.

Participants in the meeting in Elkhart acknowledged that this
would involve regulatory hurdles, since the 26 MHz band is
allocated to long- distance international broadcasting. But the
High Frequency Coordinating Conference, where most shortwave
frequency planning is done worldwide, recently proposed a
division of the band, with one portion to be used for
international broadcasting and the other part for local DRM
broadcasts.

So far no shortwave stations have begun DRM broadcasts from U.S.
soil, however the FCC has approved it and many stations are
watching the development of DRM and the receiver market.

No one wants to lose their current analog audience, but the
concept of transmitting on shortwave with an FM-quality signal
and reducing their electrical bills to a fraction of their
current levels has most U.S. international broadcasters keeping
a close eye on DRM.

Jeff White is general manager of WRMI - Radio Miami
International in addition to his roles with the U.S. DRM Group
and NASB.

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.7242.html

This sounds exactly like the situation with HD/IBOC - no one
wants it, except for the scammers peddling their hyped-products.
Interesting, that Radio Shack has shown little interest in DRM
receivers - maybe, they learned after getting burned with having
to unload dust- collecting HD/IBOC receivers. Digital radio is
stalling everywhe

"Straining to hear digital radio - Europe has a head start in
terrestrial digital radio, but is anybody listening?"

"But today, digital radio is struggling to find its legs. While
it's still in the cradle in the United States, it has begun to
crawl, a bit, in Europe and elsewhere... Europe has had a
standard for digital radio for some time. The European Union
adopted the standard, called Eureka 147, 10 years ago. But high
prices and a lack of consumer interest have kept the market
tiny."

http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=...id=CA266524&re
f=nbra

"Annual DAB sales 50% below forecast"

"The following graphs are copied from the DRDB's (Digital Radio
Development Bureau -- UK DAB's marketing and PR arm) sales
forecast documents from 2004 and 2007, and they show that the
forecast sales for 2008 are a massive 50% below what the DRDB
had previously forecast they would be for 2008, and the
cumulative sales will be 18% below previously forecast by the
end of this year and 30% below what they had previously forecast
by the end of next year."

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...AB-sales-50-be
low-...


By John Plunkett guardian.co.uk, January 10 2008

Digital radio will suffer a double blow this weekend with the
closure of two national digital stations, Oneword and Core.

GCap Media's music station Core is expected to close tomorrow,
while UBC's spoken word outfit Oneword, whose future has long
been in doubt, will cease broadcasting on Saturday.

Both stations were broadcast via digital audio broadcasting (DAB)
on Digital One, the national digital radio multiplex
majority-owned by GCap.

In a dramatic scaling back of GCap's digital offerings, its
digital music station ...

read more »


I personally love it and I'm looking forward to the demise of HD
radio in the US. jw

Shortwwave is not all about listening to advanced cultures in
well-established developed countries with wherewithal to promote
themselves on most the more advanced medium. Shortwave is more
about listening to and being able to get stations in countries,
locations around the world that are seldom heard, who have few
stations if they have more than one, broadcast at short spurts at
odd times to other countries, and do not broadcast in digital. I
know you are all the experts, but please, do not turn shortwave
into the same kind of mess that the government is turning
television into. Perhaps those of you who are serious about your
efforts want only the latest equipment, and are most satisfied when
you have to go out and buy some new gadget, but I, for one, do not
like to have to change equipment that is perfectly fine for my
purposes. I know that at some point, the promoters of digital may
prevail, but I hope it is not in my lifetime.

???

HF broadcasting is a joke in the era of the internets.

Even though you are the biggest clown in the news group the joke you
told was not funny. Why is that?

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Telamon wrote:


HF broadcasting is a joke in the era of the internets.

Even though you are the biggest clown in the news group the joke you
told was not funny. Why is that?


Because it's not. Don't make it false...

On Jan 13, 10:36*am, IBOCcrock wrote:
"Shortwave Awaits DRM in United States"
DRM Proponents Eye 2008 Olympics, 26 MHz Band

by Jeff White, 7.18.2007
The author is vice chairman of the U.S. DRM Group and president of the
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

ELKHART, Ind. U.S. shortwave broadcasters anticipate the availability
of the first low-cost Digital Radio Mondiale receiver by the end of
the year, though no DRM transmissions are originating yet in the
United States, despite FCC approval.

China may begin DRM transmissions in time for the 2008 Olympics,
spurring a global receiver launch and shortwave broadcasters from the
U.S., and other countries would like to use DRM on the 26 MHz band for
low-powered local FM-quality broadcasting.

These were the highlights of the U.S. DRM Group meeting, which was
held in May in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National
Association of Shortwave Broadcasters.

Broadcasters, manufacturers and others interested in the progress of
DRM in North America gathered for their fourth annual meeting, held at
the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind.

About 60 persons attended the meeting, which included program
producers, station managers, network operators, marketing people,
shortwave listeners and consultants.

DRM sends text, graphics

"This is our big opportunity," said Mike Adams, chairman of U.S. DRM's
International Broadcasters Committee, "to get together each year and
find out what's going on with DRM in North America." Adams is an
engineer who monitors new technologies for Far East Broadcasting
Company, a worldwide religious broadcasting network.

FEBC's Mike Adams, TDF's Michel Penneroux and Continental's Don Spragg
lead a discussion about DRM's future in North America.

Herb Jacobson of HCJB began the meeting with a detailed explanation of
the basics of DRM -- its advantages to broadcasters and how it works.
He explained which popular shortwave transmitters are easy to convert
to DRM modulation and which ones are more difficult.

Don Spragg, formerly of HCJB and now working for Continental
Electronics -- which, along with other U.S. manufacturers Nautel, BE
and Harris, sells DRM transmitters -- explained that shortwave
broadcasters were really behind the origins of DRM because they wanted
a system to enable them to go digital.

DRM officially was launched in 2003 and it has expanded to AM,
longwave and now FM use as well.

Spragg said that DRM technology enables broadcasters to transmit in
various grades of audio and can carry up to four programs
simultaneously in one channel. DRM can be used to transmit voice,
music, text, graphics, slide shows and multiple languages. There are
currently 766 hours per day of DRM transmissions, according to the DRM
Consortium.

Most, but not all, of these transmissions are in Europe, including
those from Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems, which attended the meeting in
Elkhart. In the Americas, there are DRM transmissions from CBC Radio-
Canada in Sackville, New Brunswick; Telediffusion de France in French
Guiana, HCJB in Quito, Ecuador; Radio Netherlands in Bonaire; and
Christian Vision from Chile.

All of these facilities except Bonaire conducted special DRM
transmissions during the U.S. DRM meeting, and the monitoring station
in Elkhart was able to pick them all up with excellent reception. The
audio was FM mono quality.

There was also a special trans-Atlantic DRM test during the meeting
from Vatican Radio. The Vatican organ music and special conference
ID's were heard with excellent quality and a 21-27 dB signal-to-noise
ratio. Transmission power levels ranged from four kilowatts from Quito
up to 250 kW from Vatican Radio.

Receiver timeline fluid

"DRM has much to offer," concluded Spragg. "It's an exciting time. DRM
has an important place, especially if we're going to see a revival of
the shortwave broadcasting spectrum."

The current problem with DRM is that consumer-friendly receivers are
not yet available in North America. A few early receivers are now on
the market in Europe for as little as 200 euros, or about $270; but
improved versions are still being developed and have yet to hit the
store shelves.

For some time now, it has been possible to use certain shortwave
receivers connected to a personal computer with special DRM software
to listen to DRM transmissions. However, the goal is to have stand-
alone receivers that can pick up DRM signals without the need to
connect them to PCs. Recently, a few of these types of radios have
been released on the market in a small scale in Europe, even as
modifications and improvements continue to be made.

Michel Penneroux, chairman of the DRM Consortium's Commercial
Committee, said, "The problem is in this kind of situation, the
timelines of the various players are different from one to the other.
The broadcasters have one timeline. The transmitter industry has
another. The receiver industry has [yet another]. So you wait until
the retailers say 'We want this because the customers are interested
in this.'"

So far retailers like RadioShack have not yet shown much interest in
selling DRM receivers. "The numbers [they need] are very big," said
Penneroux, "with 2.5 billion receivers to renew worldwide.
Manufacturers are very secretive about what they want to do, what are
their plans, when they're going to launch. This is the reality."

Some participants at the meeting said that there may also be a role
for DRM in AM broadcasting in the United States, given the controversy
over problems with IBOC at night. They speculated that combined DRM/HD
Radio receivers might be on the horizon.

"We are building a digital radio world for the next 20 years," said
Penneroux. "We are expecting by around the end of this year the first
low-cost DRM receiver with an ST chipset. The receiver will be made in
China, will cost less than 50 U.S. dollars, and will have a high-
quality front-end."

2008 Olympics

In fact, China may be where the big global DRM boom begins.

The Chinese appear to be moving toward domestic DRM transmissions in
time for the 2008 Olympics, which would mean massive production of DRM
receivers that would be available to both the internal and worldwide
markets at low cost.

Several U.S.-based and European shortwave broadcasters plan to begin
DRM transmissions to China in time for the Olympics.

There is also a great deal of interest in the United States and other
countries in using DRM on the 26 MHz band for low-powered local FM-
quality broadcasting.

Participants in the meeting in Elkhart acknowledged that this would
involve regulatory hurdles, since the 26 MHz band is allocated to long-
distance international broadcasting. But the High Frequency
Coordinating Conference, where most shortwave frequency planning is
done worldwide, recently proposed a division of the band, with one
portion to be used for international broadcasting and the other part
for local DRM broadcasts.

So far no shortwave stations have begun DRM broadcasts from U.S. soil,
however the FCC has approved it and many stations are watching the
development of DRM and the receiver market.

No one wants to lose their current analog audience, but the concept of
transmitting on shortwave with an FM-quality signal and reducing their
electrical bills to a fraction of their current levels has most U.S.
international broadcasters keeping a close eye on DRM.

Jeff White is general manager of WRMI - Radio Miami International in
addition to his roles with the U.S. DRM Group and NASB.

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.7242.html

This sounds exactly like the situation with HD/IBOC - no one wants it,
except for the scammers peddling their hyped-products. Interesting,
that Radio Shack has shown little interest in DRM receivers - maybe,
they learned after getting burned with having to unload dust-
collecting HD/IBOC receivers. Digital radio is stalling everywhe

"Straining to hear digital radio - Europe has a head start in
terrestrial digital radio, but is anybody listening?"

"But today, digital radio is struggling to find its legs. While it's
still in the cradle in the United States, it has begun to crawl, a
bit, in Europe and elsewhere... Europe has had a standard for digital
radio for some time. The European Union adopted the standard, called
Eureka 147, 10 years ago. But high prices and a lack of consumer
interest have kept the market tiny."

http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=...524&ref=nb ra

"Annual DAB sales 50% below forecast"

"The following graphs are copied from the DRDB's (Digital Radio
Development Bureau -- UK DAB's marketing and PR arm) sales forecast
documents from 2004 and 2007, and they show that the forecast sales
for 2008 are a massive 50% below what the DRDB had previously forecast
they would be for 2008, and the cumulative sales will be 18% below
previously forecast by the end of this year and 30% below what they
had previously forecast by the end of next year."

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...ales-50-below-...

DRM?

On Jan 13, 5:29*pm, Telamon
wrote:
In article ,
-
- *dave wrote:
-
- - HF broadcasting is a joke in the era of the internets.
-
- Even though you are the biggest clown in the news group the joke you
- told was not funny. Why is that?
-
- --
- Telamon
- Ventura, California

Telamon - Be nice to 'dave' a/r 'David' cause Today he is Confused
and Posted under both Names - altered states of a digital mind ~ RHF

Either way he seems to be using the "no there @ no where .org "
eMail Address now; vice the "rickets @ knac .com" as in the past.