You only have to look at what SCA is doing with LiSTNR to know where it’s at. And it’s not DAB+
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There would be with some planning. As TV Head mentioned, you could reduce the spacing between high powered FM stations to 600 kHz. While that might not suit the combiner filters at transmitter sites, for modern receivers it’s a no brainer. Look at how they put the Australian Open Tennis station in Melbourne on 99.7 and clearly Nova on 100.3 doesn’t get complaints.
The low powered community stations need to re-use frequencies at opposite ends of the metro areas, or perhaps be spaced only 200 kHz apart from the distant stations. Bad luck about metro wide fortuitous reception. That was never the intention with these local stations.
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I agree they could do it. Look at how many FM stations they squeeze in to cities in the US. Whether they have the will to, I doubt it. It’s about the spacing.
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I don’t agree. The number of places I hear DAB+ in shops etc here in Brisbane would suggest otherwise. Also nearly every new car has DAB+ now. There isn’t enough variety of formats on a handful of FM stations to keep people interested. If DAB+ were to switch off in Australia then I would be streaming overseas stations, not going back to the rubbish offerings on Australian commercial FM.
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High powered stations are generally still spaced 800 kHz apart in the US
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Though I think in the US you wouldn’t get many cases of high power services having to share the same spacing with nearby markets, like you have with Gold Coast and Brisbane or Melbourne and Geelong, so having stations be closer before being willing to put a high power service in between them, would be how you could better fill FM.
The strange loop is that because of the lack of choice in stations, people become accustomed to being able to receive out of market stations to try and get that choice, rather than just more services being available to begin with.
To drag this back to content - I think that issue compounds on DAB. People are used to those extra stations, and most radios are bad at merging FM/DAB into a single pile of stations - how many DAB capable cars listen to FM because they want to occasionally flip to a local or out of market station.
Gold Coast will be a good case study here - how many would forego the Brisbane stations and Rebel/Breeze (and I suppose the 4 listeners to Radio 97) - for being able to listen to the handful of added DAB stations that will be broadcast?
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potentially but why I believe If ARN would program and put to air a disco skewing DAB+ radio music log station and if ARNS MD team would program to air a disco skewed music log format with that DAB+ radio music log station off the music log list why they would brand that DAB+ music log station under KIIS branding is to keep that potential DAB+radio music log station
And that disco skewing music log format that again ARNS MD team would program to air on that DAB music log station in line with the demographic audience that ARNS PD team skew the on air lineups that they program to air on the KIIS network radio music log stations towards
But if ARNS MD team would program to air a 70s disco skewed music log format on that DAB+ Radio music log station then yeah they would title it either GOLD disco or WSFM disco because one thing that executives in the radio industry always try to nail in regards to putting into place and implementing and rolling out a marketing brand across the capital city markets is consititency
That maybe so, but it’s how they space the neighbouring stations that matters. In GreaterLos Angeles there are over 100 FM stations in an area smaller than Sunshine Coast -Brisbane - Gold Coast.
Yet our regulator decides they need to in some cases use the Brisbane spacing for some Gold Coast stations.
When you scan FM in LA that thing is stopping every 0.4. Eg. 99.9 Kola from Riverside then 100.3 The Sound (before the Christians closed it down anyway)
If it was the US, River in Ipswich would be on 94.5 and 94.9 would be a high powered Brisbane FM - just for example.
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But you’re assuming that the incumbent commercial and community operators would agree to move frequencies to allow new high-powered FM services in a market. In fact you would need to reallocate frequencies in the adjacent markets as well. It will never happen.
Like I said before, the FM mapping was completed by the ABA 20 years ago and it won’t be changed just to allow for some new FM services. It’s a stupid proposition when there are 70 DAB+ channels on air in Sydney for example.
That will be great to see.
It depends what SCA and Grant Broadcasters decide to give listeners. SCA could give the full suite of stations and GB could broadcast an extra 4-5 radio services. The 4 community stations will also be broadcast.
I hope Rebel Media will be able to have both its stations on the mux through an arrangement with one of the operators.
Somehow I don’t like the chances of that happening.
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I’ll predict that Gold Coast would launch with,
Hot Tomato
KIX Country
Cold Tomato (or whatever they brand piping in the same ‘Classic Hits’ feed as the ‘7HO Classic Hits’ in Hobart)
Hit 90.9
Buddha Hits
Easy 80s Hits
Triple M 92.5
Triple M Classic Rock
Triple M Country
Then maybe the excess capacity allocation could see Grant shift to running the same stations at 2A or 1A EEP, or perhaps paid stations like Coles or SEN, and one or two extras from SCA.
SCA’s stuff in Hobart was very limited until they used it as a dumping ground for all those streaming only stations, Gold Coast is a bigger market, but I don’t see it getting the full compliment of stations.
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That is an issue. They’ll fight it. But they don’t own the spectrum.
I think SCA will also add Urban Hits or Dance Hits to compete with Radio Metro.
Coles and SEN would want to get some spectrum, in a market bigger than Canberra, most likely through an arrangement with GB.
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Yes the spectrum is publicly owned, but DMG Radio (now Nova) paid more than half a billion dollars for their frequencies (Nova and Smooth FM), they are not going to change them. None of the commercial or for that matter community stations, will want to change frequencies to allow competitors. The planning is done, it’s over. Move on.
So how does the proposed re-plan in Perth fit in with your theory?
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