This would be a wasted opportunity by ACMA if they went with Option 4.
ABC local radio rates significantly higher than ABC Classic FM, so itâs not surprising that they were considering doing this.
Iâm surprised they havenât put ABC Classic 2 on DAB+.
ABC is not ratings driven, otherwise most of their radio networks would have been shut down years ago. But I donât think you can take a radio station that has been freely available on analogue forever and suddenly bump it to DAB. Not that I care much about what the commercials think, but you can bet they would also kick up a stink if the ABC starts running a populist music format on FM which they will claim is not the ABCâs remit.
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Local Radio and perhaps Triple J are the only really âpopulistâ stations from the ABC, the others (including DAB+/online-only offerings) are largely aimed at niche audiences.
Didnât stop SEN doing that to 2CH though, even though the Classic Hits had been getting 5% (and likely would be challenging some FM stations in the ratings if still on AM today) before being punted off 1170 Sydney in favour of Sport.
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SEN is a commercial business so they wonât give a toss, and look how itâs worked out for them. Nobodyâs listening to SEN 1170 and is anyone listening to 2CH on DAB?
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Capital 101.7 does occasionally offer some classical music programming. Would be good if they switched to that format full time as their current lineup sounds too much like Curtin FM 100.1.
They will be the big winners out of all the changes as they finally get to transmit at full power from the main TX site at Bickley in the Perth Hills at 16kW compared to their current 8kW at Wireless Hill in Ardross.
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Any idea why they have been at Ardross all this time⌠I would have thought theyâd be afforded the same coverage and specs as the other Perth wide community stations.
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Indeed. I doubt they could push much more than 8kW through their current array at Wireless Hill, let alone the low altitude limiting coverage.
Capital went to air in 2003, sharing 101.7 with youth station Groove for a few months. They then moved to 90.5FM until 2008 when ACMA revoked Grooveâs licence and they were awarded the licence to broadcast on 101.7 full time in 2009.
The reason theyâve been at Ardross is because 101.7 at 16kW had to the potential to cause intererence to the analogue ABC and GWN television signal in Bunbury as it was outside the 92 to 101 MHz range.
When Groove was around, they used to broadcast from a site in Martin, south east of Perth sharing with fellow community station Heritage FM . They had constant battles with Nova during their short broadcasting stint who claimed their signal was too strong. I think Groove was at around 5kW.
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Great reply! Thanks.
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Here is an article on the Perth FM spectrum replan on industry website Radioinfo:
Bizarre article that is half non sequiturâs and random blurbs about DAB when itâs not even relevant to the topicâŚ
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And the headline is false - far from âvacant FM frequenciesâ, the restack will require some existing services to relocate.
Yes what is the argument here? I think it is:
âThe BBC Research has found that the most expensive way of distributing broadcasts is AM radio, Mobile internet, fixed internet, and FM. And DAB+ is by far the most economical. This means that 24 high powered FM transmitters can be decommissioned, however there is no backup transmitter for the two DAB+ transmitters which are 12 years old.â (I fixed the grammar and missing words)
And I am not surprised there is a complete disconnect with the title (about new FM stations being planned) and the content/argument (DAB is more efficient) , I find that quite common in media these days.
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Agreed. It was a misleading headline as ACMA may decide not to offer any new frequencies, the status quo may prevail. But the story got a mention nonetheless.
It was an uncomfortable read. Bit like listening to a Mike Dalton story on 9 news.
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And Vision Australia Radio Perth on 990 AM.
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cough @SydneyCityTV cough
It has begun!
" 6iX needs your support
Have you ever been frustrated that you canât hear 6iX on FM right across Perth?
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) have released a paper to consider a number of options for the use of available FM frequencies in Perth. Option 1 of this paper would enable 6iX to convert from AM to FM transmission, meaning you could hear 6iX in crystal clear FM right across Perth.
6iX needs your support to make this happen.
(src: https://www.6ix.com.au/)
NOTE: Nothing I can see when I check the 6PR website, they donât really care?
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6IX has more to gain from an FM conversion than 6PR does.
And that, 6PR is 10kw on 882, 6IX is still only 2kw on 1080. In the last ACMA Perth update, 6IX opted for FM relays at Waneroo and Rockingham to address AM converge, but 6PR opted for the power increase from 2kw.
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