RETRO FRIDAY: CLASSICAL WNCN FLIPS TO ROCK WQIV 1974

UPDATE

FCC COMPLAINT ABOUT HD RADIO & THE PULIC INTEREST

THE KEY POINT FROM ERNIE SANCHEZ:

I appreciate that you are trying to stimulate some debate on the broader public interest issues associated with this apparent debacle.  I think your filing could stimulate such a discussion..

The FCC will say they approved the technology for optional use but did not force anyone to use it. I'm sure they will say they cannot be faulted for their role in approving a technology that the marketplace has been unwilling to adopt. 

WNCN BECOMES QUAD FM WQIV

On November 7, 1974 long-time commercial classical station WNCN in NYC changed owners and format.  The new owners programmed rock n roll. The new WQIV debuted with FM Quad – four signals for that had a surround sound effect.  It was great when you were in the middle of the room stoned on a waterbed.

The WNCN Listener’s Guild filed a complaint with the FCC.  They asked the FCC to force the station’s new owners to change the format back to classical.  The FCC declined to get involved.  The FCC has never gotten involved in format flip since then.

I’ve got the whole story in today’s film:

PAST FCC BOONDOGGLES ARE INSTRUCTIVE ABOUT HD RADIO

I received a couple of messages about my HD Radio FCC Complaint saying Give it more time, FM didn’t happen for years. It’s true that FM languished from the 1950s until the late 60s.  Rock n roll saved FM.

That is not as likely to happen with HD Radio.  FM was freeware – not a corporate tollbooth like iBiquity.  The FCC cemented FM’s future in the 60s when they enacted the mandate that AM and FM carry different programming in places of 25,000 people or more.

Recent history gives us a couple of examples when waiting for something to happen wasn’t a wise decision.  Consider:

AM STEREO

In 1980 the FCC selected the Magnavox system and named it the official standard.  The FCC action didn’t sit well with owners of competing AM Stereo systems who were also expecting approval.  Things turned ugly, lawsuits were filed, chargess flew about “sloppy” FCC research

By 1982 the FCC sought a way out when they revoked their 1980 decision and authorized four different AM Stereo systems and said: The market should decide.

Many AM stations added AM Stereo in the mid and late 1980s. Car companies were early champions of AM Stereo – they could charge more for the super-duper radios.  Despite big, big problems with nighttime AM Stereo signals, people said give it time.

But the time was not on their side.  By the 1990’s most music programming had moved to FM.  AM Stereo never revived.

QUADRAPHONIC FM

What’s better than two channels of FM?  How about four channel's -- FM Quad!  Four speakers positioned around your bed vibrating the room with latest hits. 

The concept of FM Quad originated at the BBC. In the early 70s the Dorren Quadraplex System was chosen as the sole standard for FM quadraphonic broadcasting. WIBQ in Detroit was the first station to “go quad.”

FM Quad played a role in a historic FCC change of policy to stay out of format change disputes.  The case involved classical station WNCN, New York and it’s flip to rockin' FM Quad WQIV in November 1974.  WNCN's Cassical listeners took the format change to the FCC.  The FCC said No. That's still the FCC policy today.

FM Quad never panned out, in part because record companies didn’t release much quad product.

Like HD Radio, AM Stereo and FM Quad were cooked up in the lab. Listeners were not at the planning table.  The need was never considered.  These are classic marketing blunders sort of like the New Coke.

I used to heat my house with one of these hot tube babies.

FCC COMPLAINT ABOUT HD RADIO GAINS MOMENTUM

As many of you know, on January 14, 2015 I filed an informal complaint with the FCC stating iBiquity’s HD Radio scheme is not in the public interest. My complaint is based on the fact that the entire HD Radio platform has not attracted enough listening to be considered a meaningful public service. My complaint is FCC “Ticket No. 83715.”  You can see my earlier posts about this at http://acrnewsfeed.blogspot.com/2015/01/memo-to-fcc-review-ibiquity-for-failing.html

Today I received a very informative e-mail from Ernie Sanchez, a DC Communications attorney, who was General Counsel of NPR from 1974 to 1981.  Ernie had heard about my complaint to the FCC and offered these thoughts:

I appreciate that you are trying to stimulate some debate on the broader public interest issues associated with this apparent debacle.  I think your filing could stimulate such a discussion, although I don't see any of the main players taking any responsibility for what has happened--or not happened.

• The FCC did not license Ibiquity but they have blessed the technology as being appropriate for the purpose for which it was intended. Use of the technology is of course optional for the stations that choose to utilize it.

[KEN’S NOTE: I highlighted blessed because that term describes the apparent “nod and wink” agreement between iBiquity and the FCC.]

• Here is how I see the parties defending themselves:

The FCC will say they approved the technology for optional use but did not force anyone to use it. I'm sure they will say they cannot be faulted for their role in approving a technology that the marketplace has been unwilling to adopt.  I'm sure they would say that if someone else has a better technology, they should bring it to the FCC's attention and get it approved for similar potential use.

[KEN’S NOTE: I highlighted the phrase a technology that the marketplace has been unwilling to adopt because it is the core of my argument to review HD Radio for top to bottom.]

 Ibiquity will blame the stations and the hardware makers.  They will probably fault the FCC for not making the implementation of the technology mandatory.

The stations will blame Ibquity, the FCC, and the public – everyone but themselves and their programming.

I look forward to hearing what happens to your comments and what discussion is stimulated.  You should offer to do a panel at the NAB.

THE SANCHEZ LAW FIRM P.C., 1155 F STREET N.W., SUITE 1050, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004; PHONE: 202-237-2814;  FAX: 202-540-9311; E-MAIL ADDRESS: Ernestsanchez2348@gmail.com