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The 'AM death watch' thread... |
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#151 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: West Kent.
Posts: 426
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[quote=Ex Pat;68021301] Quote:
The lovely thing about sea path is that when the signal hits land it wouldn't have been severely attenuated. |
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#152 |
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 13,570
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Quote:
Mainly some US bible bashers probably.
https://www.premier.org.uk/getinvolv...er/donate.aspx |
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#153 |
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 25,460
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Quote:
Premier has some US preachers but avoids the extream preachers, but has issued a statement about it's medium wave transmitters which may stop if it can't buy the sites after the transmission company went bust..
https://www.premier.org.uk/getinvolv...er/donate.aspx |
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#154 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 830
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Quote:
Premier has some US preachers but avoids the extream preachers, but has issued a statement about it's medium wave transmitters which may stop if it can't buy the sites after the transmission company went bust..
https://www.premier.org.uk/getinvolv...er/donate.aspx I appreciate consideration would need to be given to neighbouring services on the frequencies but I think this might be possible with 1305 and 1413. I don't think the power increase would need to be too substantial to ensure London remains wholly covered by the two transmitters. For example 1413 could be weighted east to avoid interference with BBC Gloucestershire. Whilst 1305 could be weighted south to avoid clashing with Magic AM (Barnsley) and Gold (Wales). |
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#155 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Herts
Posts: 6,184
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Quote:
It was suggested on one website that Radio 5 Nostalgie 747 would possibly close early in 2015 and that a decision would be made in June. I haven't read anything else since? I did check this website for any follow up story a couple of weeks ago.
http://radio.nl/778116/radio-5-mogel...-de-middengolf End of paragraph 9 if you want to Google translate this report. http://derotsmedia.com/2014/03/26/21682/ |
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#156 |
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 476
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Radio Wales on AM. Given that large parts of Wales do not get Radio Wales on FM and DAB and coverage is not likely to extended to the entire country any time soon. I would be very opposed to any move to close down the Radio Wales AM service.
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#157 |
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Bristol UK
Posts: 944
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I hope they change there mind about closing R Bristol/Somerset sound AM transmitters.This afternoon the Bristol City away game was carried on 94.9 FM 1566 AM and DAB. The Bristol Rovers game carried on 1548 AM. Closing AM would severely limit this stations excellent local sports coverage.
Now The Bristol rugby game is being carried on 1548 AM and DAB whilst the FM network is carrying the general post match and results programme. |
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#158 |
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: South Notts (Waltham TV TX)
Posts: 20,200
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Quote:
I hope they change there mind about closing R Bristol/Somerset sound AM transmitters.This afternoon the Bristol City away game was carried on 94.9 FM 1566 AM and DAB. The Bristol Rovers game carried on 1548 AM. Closing AM would severely limit this stations excellent local sports coverage.
Now The Bristol rugby game is being carried on 1548 AM and DAB whilst the FM network is carrying the general post match and results programme. |
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#159 |
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Scotland, Dunfermline Area
Posts: 10,698
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I very rarely listen to radio via AM anymore and its been that way for a good few years now. I listen via DAB. I do still listen to some stations via FM at times. I do from time to time listen to stations online as well.
I can see AM maybe starting to close down in the next 5 or 10 years. As most stations that are on AM are also on DAB. Darren |
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#160 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: East Perthshire
Posts: 1,591
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Quote:
I very rarely listen to radio via AM anymore and its been that way for a good few years now. I listen via DAB. I do still listen to some stations via FM at times. I do from time to time listen to stations online as well.
I can see AM maybe starting to close down in the next 5 or 10 years. As most stations that are on AM are also on DAB. Darren In the car, there are DAB blackspots, and in the garden, an old radio/cassette for 5live/Tay AM/Radio Scotland and R4 LW with long battery life, and no telescopic aerial to get broken. Actually, come to think about it, RTE Radio 1 probably is available on DAB, but not in Perthshire ! |
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#161 |
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Scotland, Dunfermline Area
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Quote:
Up here near Blairgowrie, every station that is on AM is also on DAB (with the exception of RTE Radio 1) however, I and many others still use MW and LW.
In the car, there are DAB blackspots, and in the garden, an old radio/cassette for 5live/Tay AM/Radio Scotland and R4 LW with long battery life, and no telescopic aerial to get broken. Actually, come to think about it, RTE Radio 1 probably is available on DAB, but not in Perthshire ! I listen to Forth 2 that's now mostly the same programing thought Scotland via DAB whenever I can. I have not had LW radio in over 5 years. I still listen to FM at times for the likes of the Fife local station Kingdom FM as that's still not on DAB. Darren |
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#162 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: lichfield staffs
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I don,t see mutch signs of AM closes down in Uk ? We still have absolute on 1215 ect & if a AM station was to close i guess this would be the first .plus globel has just rolled out smooth on ex gold am frequncys & ofcom are offering community licences on AM .
AM has had it,s day & must be costing a small fortune for very few listeners but some reason none of the radio groups closed down on AM ? Who will be first ? |
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#163 |
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Scotland, Dunfermline Area
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I think once there is better coverage of DAB then they may start to think about closing AM. For there is still one or two DAB blackspots in the likes of the Scottish Borders and up passed Perth.
Darren |
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#164 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,204
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Quote:
I don,t see mutch signs of AM closes down in Uk ? We still have absolute on 1215 ect & if a AM station was to close i guess this would be the first .plus globel has just rolled out smooth on ex gold am frequncys & ofcom are offering community licences on AM .
AM has had it,s day & must be costing a small fortune for very few listeners but some reason none of the radio groups closed down on AM ? Who will be first ? |
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#165 |
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: South Notts (Waltham TV TX)
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Quote:
I think Absolute will be first. From memory the bulk of their listeners are on the digital platforms. I think Talk Sport still have a lot of AM listeners, so can't see them coming off AM any time soon.
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#166 |
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,204
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Quote:
20% of listening hours in 2011 were on MW http://www.anoraknation.com/discussion/threads/2939795 probably even less than that now,
It's not surprising really as they're a music station and their signal on MW is bloody awful in a lot of places. TalkSport and 5 Live have the advantage of having their high power transmitters on two separate frequencies, which makes a lot of difference (no mush zones). They're also lower down the MW band which also helps. |
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#167 |
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Bristol UK
Posts: 944
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Quote:
DAB has the capability for Secondary Channels, this would allow BBC R Bristol to drop to 64kbps mono for the duration of the match carrying Bristol City, and a temporary station (e.g. BBC Brstl Rovers) to carry the Bristol Rovers Commentary (this is already done for Yesterday in Parliament on Radio 4).
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#168 |
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: South Notts (Waltham TV TX)
Posts: 20,200
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Quote:
I am not sure if they can carry a secondary service on the local commercial mux. Also Local DAB has a very limited coverage compared to either AM or FM.
Clyde 1, with Clyde 2 and 3C as secondaries Clyde 2, with Clyde 1 and 3C as secondaries 3C with Clyde 1, and Clyde 2 as secondaries The coverage issues with the local multiplexes should be addressed as part of the build out plan over the next few years. (It's kinda annoying the UK haven't made more use of these dynamic opt-outs - Five Live on some Saturdays would benefit gratley from them as would many BBC LR stations* - satellite TV is also a big example of wasted capacity going (see BBC ONE and it's two dozen simulcasts - many of those could be rained in if we took some lessons from the Germans perhaps offering more part-time red button)). Also not every local multiplex has less coverage than the analogue stations - IIRC BBC Nottingham is one of the stations which has better coverage on DAB than FM (and certainly better than MW) - the only extra planned transmitter seems to be a filler for when expansion of other multiplexes increases incoming interference. * Heck I'd even go as far as to suggest that once the local radio build out is complete the BBC World Service should be transferred to the local multiplexes allowing BBC LR stations to run with 3x64kbps opt-outs if needed - e.g. Mansfield Town, Nottingham Forest, and Notts County and for the once in a blue moon when a fourth opt-out is needed they could even take the World Service off-air for a couple of hours. |
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#169 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: East Perthshire
Posts: 1,591
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Quote:
Also not every local multiplex has less coverage than the analogue stations - IIRC BBC Nottingham is one of the stations which has better coverage on DAB than FM (and certainly better than MW) - the only extra planned transmitter seems to be a filler for when expansion of other multiplexes increases incoming interference.
* Heck I'd even go as far as to suggest that once the local radio build out is complete the BBC World Service should be transferred to the local multiplexes allowing BBC LR stations to run with 3x64kbps opt-outs if needed - e.g. Mansfield Town, Nottingham Forest, and Notts County and for the once in a blue moon when a fourth opt-out is needed they could even take the World Service off-air for a couple of hours. However, it suffers from blackspots within it's core transmission area - the area around Meigle/Newtyle, and areas of the west end of Dundee are places where AM/FM work, and DAB doesn't. It is these small areas that need the attention of the broadcasters to convince particularly in-car listeners to switch to DAB. Re the multiple opt outs for football commentary, I'm not a sports fan so I don't pay a lot of attention to such things, but I notice that Radio Scotland sometimes offer online only commentary. I know that this isn't as handy as having it on "the radio" but might be the way forward to save having multiple occasional opt-outs? |
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#170 |
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 13,570
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid Law
However, it suffers from blackspots within it's core transmission area - the area around Meigle/Newtyle, and areas of the west end of Dundee are places where AM/FM work, and DAB doesn't. It is these small areas that need the attention of the broadcasters to convince particularly in-car listeners to switch to DAB.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bro...verage/annex-b But no timescales, I expect the English local stations which may lose AM coverage under the DQF will get priority? |
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#171 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Scotland, Dunfermline Area
Posts: 10,698
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Quote:
The Bauer Tayside local MUX (Tay FM, Tay AM and a few others) covers a vast area with reception possible in East Kilbride, Edinburgh, the Berwickshire coast, the A9 as far north as Blair Atholl, the M90 as far north as Stonehaven.
However, it suffers from blackspots within it's core transmission area - the area around Meigle/Newtyle, and areas of the west end of Dundee are places where AM/FM work, and DAB doesn't. It is these small areas that need the attention of the broadcasters to convince particularly in-car listeners to switch to DAB. Re the multiple opt outs for football commentary, I'm not a sports fan so I don't pay a lot of attention to such things, but I notice that Radio Scotland sometimes offer online only commentary. I know that this isn't as handy as having it on "the radio" but might be the way forward to save having multiple occasional opt-outs? I do miss 3C at times as I used to listen to it now and again but at times it never played the older style country music. I also miss the country show that I used to listen to almost every week. That used to be on Forth 2 until it got dropped 6 or 7 months ago when most Scottish AM stations went networked programming. I agree there are some blackspots with DAB. Even in parts of east Fife where AM and FM work well and as I said above also north of Perth and parts of the Scottish Borders. Darren |
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#172 |
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Bristol UK
Posts: 944
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The local Bristol DAB covers Bath Bristol and Weston Super Mare ok'ish but AM/FM goes out a lot further covering all the intended coverage area very well . Many of the supporters of both Bristol football teams plus the Bath and Bristol Rugby fans live out in the more rural areas of this area and would be very upset if AM was to be switched off unless local DAB coverage was much improved. This might start to happen when the new local DAB mux opens as I believe this will be from the main Mendip TV mast.
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#173 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,719
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Quote:
I think once there is better coverage of DAB then they may start to think about closing AM. For there is still one or two DAB blackspots in the likes of the Scottish Borders and up passed Perth.
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#174 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Herts
Posts: 6,184
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Andy Sennitt spotted this news on radio.nl. Summary of his translation.
Last Wednesday, three high power AM stations of France Info, the news channel of the public broadcaster, were switched off to save costs, 837 north of Nancy 200kw, 792 north of Limoges 300kw, 945 SW of Toulouse 300kw. France Info is currently available on more than 260 FM frequencies. Nevertheless there are still areas where the station is not well-received on FM. Radio France has decided not to invest in DAB+. Transmitters to be dismantled after the summer. In the Netherlands it's planned to turn off the mediumwave transmitter of Radio 5 in 2015, but an official notice has not yet been released. http://radio.nl/793867/france-info-h...s-uit-de-lucht |
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#175 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 428
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Quote:
In the Netherlands it's planned to turn off the mediumwave transmitter of Radio 5 in 2015, but an official notice has not yet been released.
Two years of power consumption of a MW transmitter is quite a lot. |
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