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Skip Pizzi / The Big Picture
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Technical developments in the digital arena, consumer electronics and new media bear directly on the success of traditional radio broadcast. Insightful commentary on these and other trends from Radio World Contributing Editor Skip Pizzi.
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The Elephant and the Oak Tree
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An Old Joke Reflects a Growing Realization About IBOC
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by Skip Pizzi, 10.24.2007
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Sometime in the fourth or fifth grade I first heard the elephant joke that asks, “How do you get an elephant into an oak tree?” Answer: “Have him sit on an acorn and wait.”
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Substitute Teaching for the Digital Age
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The Ratcheting Rhetoric of Royalties Has Created a New Buzzword, With Potentially Serious Impact
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by Skip Pizzi, 10.10.2007
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The battle over performance royalties for U.S. broadcasts of music recordings continues to rage, with no end in sight.
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Whose Device Is It, Anyway?
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Many Services Can Converge and Connect at the Personal Portable Media Device, But Who Decides Which?
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by Skip Pizzi, 9.26.2007
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You may recall in the last issue that we considered the technical complexity of wireless digital media devices.
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We Map the Mobile Multimedia Maze
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If the Camel Is a Horse Designed by a Committee, Their Next Project Must Have Been Wireless Multimedia
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by Skip Pizzi, 9.12.2007
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Time was, all it took to provide a broadcast service was a transmitter and a receiver. While technically that’s still true, there’s a lot more to it nowadays.
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Subscription Radio Gets Real
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Whether or Not the FCC Allows It, HD Radio Is Ready for Subscription Service
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by Skip Pizzi, 9.01.2007
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We conclude our examination of the remaining unknowns of IBOC with a look at RadioGuard, the conditional access system proposed by Ibiquity Digital for use on HD Radio subscription services, which if the FCC’s final IBOC rules permit, could be the primary mechanism for radio subscription service delivery.
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Anatomy of a Split Decision on IBOC
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Reaching FCC Consensus on ‘Final’ Digital Radio Rules Required Leaving Some Key Items Until Next Time
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by Skip Pizzi, 8.15.2007
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One point that came as a surprise to some was the question of whether radio broadcasters’ disclosure obligations will be “enhanced.” While this is probably a worthwhile discussion, it is somewhat oddly placed in the IBOC rulemaking process.
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Waiting for the Third Shoe to Drop
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The FCC's Recent Digital Radio Ruling Still Leaves a Few Important Points Unsettled
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by Skip Pizzi, 8.01.2007
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When the FCC issued its Second Report & Order on digital radio in May, we learned that these were not truly and completely "final" rules, but that there will very likely be a Third R&O to follow.
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New Entrants Target Radio’s Success
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Emerging Services Continue to Poke at Radio’s Model. Will They Eventually Find a Soft Spot?
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by Skip Pizzi, 7.18.2007
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Nearly from its origin, radio has coexisted with other media that competed with its service to audiences.
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Moving on Up to Digital Audio 3.0
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Digital Audio Technology Is About To Enter Its Third Generation
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by Skip Pizzi, 7.04.2007
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Show of hands: Who can remember the launch of the CD format?
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WZLX: Programming a Surround Station
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Reports From an Early Adopter Provide Insight on How to Fill a Format With Surround Content
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by Skip Pizzi, 6.20.2007
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One of the primary concerns over surround-sound radio broadcasting has been the lack of music content produced in 5.1, making it difficult if not impossible to fill the multichannel format in anything close to a full-time fashion.
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Is It Lights Out for Webcasters?
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As the Effective Date for New Royalties Approaches, Webcasters Explore Their Options
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by Skip Pizzi, 6.06.2007
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The new Webcasting royalty rates scheduled to go into effect on July 15 are already having an impact — both online and in Washington.
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Webcasting Royalties Loom Large
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Webcasters Are Looking Closely at What New Rates Will Mean to Their Operations
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by Skip Pizzi, 5.23.2007
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Last time we discussed some of the changes in the digital music industry that could affect radio, including the Copyright Royalty Board’s recent action that increased the royalties paid by online radio services for use of published music by U.S. statutory license. This time we will continue our exploration of that topic.
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Charting the Digital Music Changes
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How Will Radio Be Affected By Recent Shifts in the Music Industry?
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by Skip Pizzi, 5.09.2007
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In case you haven’t noticed, there have been a number of groundbreaking moves in digital music of late. The traditionally close business relationships between the music and radio industries have prompted some to ask how these changes might affect the emerging digital radio market.
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Digital Radio Rules, Dude!
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The Overdue FCC Action Signals Full Speed Ahead for IBOC
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by Skip Pizzi, 4.25.2007
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It’s been a long time coming, but the FCC’s recent approval of (almost) final rules for U.S. digital radio is being welcomed widely by the industry.
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Turning Partners Into Competitors
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Directions Being Contemplated in the Digital Music Industry Could Be Detrimental to Radio
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by Skip Pizzi, 4.11.2007
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First, recall that there has been plenty of posturing lately on Digital Rights Management (the "other DRM" to those in the radio technology business), much of it generated by an open letter by Steve Jobs a few months back in which he called for the music companies to drop their demands that digital music downloads be protected by such technologies.
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Fusing the Satellite Radio Babies
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by Skip Pizzi, 3.28.2007
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The wisdom of Solomon will be required in deciding whether to allow XM and Sirius to merge.
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An HD Radio Deployment Scorecard
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A Look at What's Needed Next for the Digital Radio Rollout
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by Skip Pizzi, 3.14.2007
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As we approach the annual media pilgrimage to the American desert known as NAB2007, it's a good time to take the pulse on progress of the U.S. radio industry's transition to digital broadcasting.
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Portable IBOC May Be on Its Way
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A New Prototype Chip Provides Hope That Portable HD Radio Receivers Will Be on Store Shelves Soon
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by Skip Pizzi, 3.01.2007
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A recent Radio World editorial (Jan. 17) lamented the absence to date of portable HD Radio receivers, and cited their importance to a successful transition to digital for the U.S. radio industry.
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Exactly the Same, Yet Completely Different
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There Are Important Similarities and Contrasts Between the Early Days of FM and Those of IBOC
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by Skip Pizzi, 2.14.2007
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Comedian Steven Wright has a routine in which he asks listeners to recall the feeling one gets when leaning back in a chair a little too far.
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Radio's Royal Family Redux
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Wherein We Meet the Twin Occupants of a Modern Throne Room
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by Skip Pizzi, 2.01.2007
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You've no doubt heard the familiar refrain “Content is king,” which has become a touchstone of ultimate truth in the digital media world.
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