Who Gets a Vancouver FM Repeater?

[jon]

This coming week, the CRTC plans to announce their decision on whether there will be an FM repeater in Vancouver for CKNW or CKEE-FM Whistler. And, if so, which one.

CKNW wants 99.7 with 6KW (Max ERP) Downtown from the top of the South tower of Pacific Centre, and CKEE-FM wants 99.9 with 450 watts strongly directional to the SSW from a transmitter in North Vancouver at about 1300 feet elevation (at the top of the tower).

[Mike Cleaver]

Unless the CRTC is prepared to change the limit of four stations (2 AM - 2FM) in a market, there will be no repeater for CKNW.
If they allow this, there will be a flood of similar applications from compromised AM stations which have difficulty being received in the downtown core of Canada's major cities (locally, News 1130 comes to mind, unlistenable downtown as is CKNW.)
Whistler has no business applying for a repeater in Vancouver.
It would simply be another identical signal in an already overcrowded market.
If Corus and Rogers want a clear signal for their AMs, they should put that signal on one of their FMs instead or for CKNW, put it on 730 which has much better central city penetration.

[kal]

Even better, begin the process of phasing out AM altogether. It's not just 'NW with signal problems, and it's not just "downtown." I find problem areas all over the lower mainland. Ten years until AM is gone? What do you think?

[jon]

Ten years until AM is gone? What do you think?

Hard to imagine AM disappearing completely in any hurry. The following random points seem to make it unlikely.

The number of AM stations in the U.S. seems to be increasing, not decreasing.

The FM band seems to be at a breaking point now in Canada's Top Markets. Yes, that's been said repeatedly over at least the last 20 years, but this time might be different.

Canada's solution of Short Spacing FM stations may be on a collision course with IBOC, the U.S. approach to Digital Radio where AM simulcasts would seem ideally suited to being placed on an alternate HD Radio channel of a sister FM station. Most of what I've read says that using IBOC full bandwidth on FM, i.e. - a full set of HD Radio channels on an FM station, won't work properly when the station is Short Spaced with another nearby FM station.

Two factors that could have a big impact on Audio in the Home, or could totally flop, are the Internet-delivered on-demand approach of Netflix and the huge gamble of car makers on the Broadband-delivered on-demand approach of their Auto Entertainment systems. I say "Broadband" because SiriusXM has bought some of the auto suppliers in hopes of using their satellites to deliver to the vehicle instead of cellular-based Internet.

Audio in the Home could be served by an expansion of Netflix-like services to include Audio, or by the expansion of Auto Entertainment systems into the Home. Were either approach to become popular, it could easily encompass and effectively replace Radio, both AM and FM. Odds aren't that great on either expansion into Home Audio happening. But who would have predicted the success of the Smartphone beyond Business (early Blackberry) before the iPhone appeared on the scene? And that wasn't so very long ago.