I think 76-87.5 mhz is next to useless in Australia because 99% of receivers can’t pick it up.
And I can’t see many people buying new radios for it
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nope.won’t happen. river is not licenced for brisbane and te incumbents will not let it happen
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People will just stream instead, so waste of time moving to those frequencies
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Will they though? Are people really streaming ‘local’ stations? If people are streaming I find it’s mostly other stations like on iHeart or Spotify of overseas stations. If people are bothering to stream they don’t limit themselves to local stations. The only way to actually ensure your audience stays local is FM or DAB.
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I’ve often streamed local stations. I’ve worked in basement areas of buildings where we don’t get any AM/FM/DAB reception but we still want a local station with local weather, news and traffic so we stream it. Localism wins after all.
Most people in my workplace probably don’t even realise it’s streaming. Except there’s been times when I’ve accidentally selected a different capital city variant and the Sydney ads or Brisbane traffic reports stand out for example!
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In my experience, once you go to the bother of streaming, you realise there is no need to put up with endless ads at all.
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Well VHF Band 1 formerly used for Analogue Channels 0, 1 & 2 shall be used for DRM across Regional Australia anyway.
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Still ads on streaming. We use RadioApp. Not sure what you are talking about?
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There are a plethora of overseas stations streaming with no ads at all.
Try Radio UK radio for a start. Some have ads but many don’t.
Plenty from Europe also with no ads.
Local stations are the last thing I’d stream.
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I also stream local AM stations (mostly 3AW, 3CS, 3GG) at work where electrical interference means that the only AM station that gets picked up clearly is ABC 774.
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Brazil is expanding its FM band down to 76.1 MHz, and already there are a few stations below 87.5 MHz. Should Australia do the same?
REASONS FOR
- This would allow AM stations, even in major cities, to move to the FM band. There would have to be a long simulcast period to allow people to buy new radios that could receive the expanded FM band
- AM radio reception in electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles is affected by electrical interference from the motor and other electronic components, so much so that some EVs overseas don’t have an AM radio. With an expected transition to electric vehicles over the next 15 years and a certain amount of radio listening taking place in the car, this is likely to affect AM listening audiences at some point in the future.
- 85-87.5 MHz was used for TV Channel 3 and is currently vacant. 83-85 MHz also appears to be vacant.
- Many radios don’t have an AM band, e.g. those built into mobile phones, most DAB+/FM radios.
- Although FM radios sold in Australia generally can’t receive 76-87.5 MHz, many of them have the circuitry to tun the entire 76-108 MHz. However, only the relevant part of he band is enabled, depending on whether the radio is sold in Japan (76-95 MHz) or the rest of the world (87.5-108 MHz).
- Many countries have completely or almost completely stopped AM broadcasting. Even Russia, with its large size and vast distances, only has a handful of AM stations, mainly near border regions.
- In some countries like the US and Canada, many AM stations are simulcasting on FM, even if it’s a low power FM translator, and emphasising the FM frequency.
- In some countries like the US, some AM stations are closing down and handing in their licence so that they can sell the land on which the transmitter is located.
REASONS AGAINST
- If stations can broadcast on DAB+, do we need an expanded FM band?
- Would people buy a new FM radio if they can listen to these stations on DAB+ or online through a smartphone or smart speaker?
- There are also more choices these days, e.g. Spotify, again through smartphones and smart speakers, so would people buy new radios?
- To use 76-83 MHz, other users would need to move to different frequencies.
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I think we absolutely should expand the FM band - and then it’s up to potential users if they wish to seek spectrum access.
The ACMA can auction commercial frequencies in that space, at varying power levels - including high power in major markets - with options for supplemental expanded band frequencies for any AM stations unable to convert to the standard FM band.
New licenses would come with a clear condition that it isn’t an entitlement to DAB access, though could be used in digital mode with DRM+.
Put all the risk and reward onto the potential users. There’s a lot of people seeking access to the tiny number of narrowcast and community licenses available, and the main FM band has no prospect of new licenses, and DAB is blocked to new entrants.
None of that’s to say I think it’s at all likely - there’s zero interest in doing something like this, as by the nature of it no one is busting down the door wanting FM band expansion. But that’s not an argument against doing it in principle, just that it coming to fruition is extremely unlikely.
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They should. Allow AM stations to transfer if they wish and shutter the failure that is DAB.
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The Former VHF Band 1 Channels has to have some Use for DRM.
River 94.9 Rebroadcasting into Brisbane City and Moreton Bay on 89.1 FM.
Not unless 4KRY FM 89.1 is reallocated. The Brisbane signal does reach some parts of Kingaroy RA1.
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or I could re quote as:-
“The Former VHF Band 1 Channels has to have some Use”
It is definitely under utilized.
Whilst it could be a great piece of spectrum to run experimental DRM & additional FM BCB stations I wonder if ACMA would be a little tentative for it to be used for BCB radio stations given that the former low band TV Band 1 TV stations was subject to a lot of interference from other TV stations due to the (mostly summer) Sporadic E (SpE) propagation phenomenon that would frequently effect analogue TV reception in the fringe & not so fringe local reception areas. Digital TV reception if it was operational back then still could have been effected & likewise the implementation of FM or DRM radio broadcast stations on those lower former band TV 1 could still be effected by SpE in poorer reception areas within the local broadcast area.
It surprises me that MW (AM) broadcast radio platform is still as strong as it is locally given the rising MW noise floor levels & given MW disappearance trends across Europe.
There’s still growth trends in DAB+ locally, just that the rate of growth has been slow & adoption by vehicle manufacturers have been part of the problem, not just the broadcast industry.
Back to the subject of the former TV Band I spectrum. Nathan Rose has a new test station playing Classic Hits from Mt. Tomah (North/West Sydney) on 77.4MHz. Power is 50W, well heard but bandwidth is a deplorable 5kHz, audio quality being similar to listening to the radio over a landline. Compare with the foreign language broadcasters in the 152 & 173MHz bands who are using 25-30kHz of bandwidth. I wonder what Nathan’s plans are?
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What about 89.9?
89.9 is adjacent to 90.1 on Gold Coast and 4TAB on 89.7
But the main point is that River does not have a license to broadcast to Brisbane so can’t use any frequency.
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Why are the 152/173MHz narrowcasters allowed 25-30kHz bandwidth but 77MHz only 5kHz?