Re: Stop the Narrow-casting

[Sven Weil <sven@gord.isdn.lightning.net>]

Douglas J. Broda said:
> 
> Steve:
> 
> Certainly I understand and respect your preferences. But I also think
> there's room out there, especially with all the underperforming AMs out
> there, to try it the way I like and see if it has a market. As far as I
> know, no one has, and I know there are folks who would like to hear those
> days recreated, even if we are at or near the dreaded big 4-0. Are there
> enough of us? I don't know. But I'd like to find out.
> 

I don't think LP FM should be a smaller version of present-day commercial
radio. It should instead reflect the different ethnic composition of that
neigborhood. If it's a polish hood, there should be at least one polish
station. IF there's a big italian pop. there should be an italian station.
Even the "Hispanic" population is so diverse now. 

Some neighborhoods are more Colombian, others more Puerto Rican, others
more Dominican. A good example of this is when the UK legalized a form of
LP-FM. A tiny radio station called London Greek Radio covers a few miles
of the capital city; however, it has a faithful listener base among that
city's greek residents.

Subcarrier FM is currently (and could be further and more fully used) for
this purpose. In New York, the list for subcarrriers goes like this right
now:


88.3 (Newark) - Phillipino
89.9 (New York) - Mandarin Chinese
96.3 (New York) - some sort of Indian (subcontinent) language (RBC Radio)
97.1 (New York) - Russian (WMNB ?)
97.9 (New York) - Cantonese (Chung Wa Commercial b'casting)
98.7 (New York) - Spanish (Colombian) (RCN Radio out of Bogota, Colombia)
101.9 (New York) - MUZAK
103.5 (New York) - Italian Catholic (Radio Maria of Rome)
104.3 (New York) - Mandarin/Cantonese
105.1 (New York) - Latter-Day Saint's Radio (will go dark in 2,000)
107.5 (New York) - Spanish (Ecuadorian) (Grup Radial Delgado out of Quito
& Guayaquil, Ecuador)

This is only one band of subcarrier in NYC (I don't know wich one)

I understand there are also greek, italian and other chinese services on
the other band. If subcarrier FM can be used like this successfully, who's
to say that LP FM can't be used for the same thing, with even greater
accecibility?


- -- 
Sven Franklyn Weil            "The needs of the many outweigh 
<sven@lily.org>                          the needs of the few
<http://www.lily.org/~sven>                      or the one." 
                                                     -- Surak

------------------------------