TELECOM Digest Wed, 25 Jun 2003 23:59:00 EDT Volume 22 : Issue 539 Inside This Issue: SPECIAL REPORT Editor: Patrick A. Townson WFMT, Cable FM, and Classical Music (Neal McLain) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 14:59:25 -0600 From: Neal McLain Subject: WFMT, Cable FM, and Classical Music A few weeks ago, PAT posted an article from the Chicago Tribune about WFMT, the (now one-and-only) classical-music radio station in Chicago: ("WFMT Making Some Changes Soon"). Once upon a time, there were three classical stations in Chicago: WEFM, WNIB, and WFMT. Over the years, PAT and others have posted much historical information about these stations: WEFM: ("Digest Editor's Note"). WEFM/WNIB/WFMT: ("PAT note"). WNIB/WFMT: ("Classical Radio"). WFMT staff also produces Beethoven Satellite Network, an automated classical-music service distributed internationally to other radio stations. Many college, university, and NPR stations carry BSN at various times during their broadcast days, especially overnight. BSN's daily playlist is at . WFMT itself carries BSN from midnight to 6:00 am central time. Although BSN doesn't identify itself during these broadcasts, the prerecorded voice of Peter Van de Graaff is readily identifiable. Some of PAT's comments about BSN are at ("PAT note"). Little has been said, however, about WFMT's role as a cable FM service. For many years, WFMT was (and in a few places still is) a cable FM service. This has been a particular interest of mine, partly because I've been a cable TV engineer for most of my career, and partly because I've been a loyal (if intermittent) WFMT listener ever since my student days at Naperville High School. I'm well aware that PAT is no great fan of WFMT; he prefers WNIB (or used to, before it was sold), and he has sound (no pun) reasons for his preference. I've listened to both stations, and I think they are (were) both excellent. Announcers on both stations seem to pronounce French, German, Italian, Latin, and even Czech correctly, and they generally sound like they know what they're talking about. That said, however, I've always preferred WFMT for two reasons: it doesn't accept pre-recorded commercials (all WFMT commercials are read live by program hosts), and it presents a lot of live (or tape-delayed live) classical music. So, with that background, here's my story about WFMT, cable FM, and classical-music-on-cable generally. ================================== ===== THE RISE OF CABLE FM ===== ================================== Cable FM works just like cable TV, except that the cable is connected to an FM tuner instead of a television set. The FM signals are carried over the cable network in the standard FM band (88-108 MHz, or in some systems, 90-108 MHz [1]) at a level approximately equal to the TV Channel 6 aural carrier. Early forms of cable FM service were called "allband FM." The entire FM band was picked up by one or more antennas at the cable headend, and sent out over the cable network with a minimum of processing. Typical processing equipment consisted of an antenna preamp, a headend amplifier, a bandpass filter to reject out-of-band signals, and a series of adjustable traps that a headend technician could tweak in an (often- futile) attempt to get all FM carrier levels approximately equal. More elaborate cable FM systems incorporated "individually-processed" carriers. This system made it possible to transmit other types of audio signals in the FM band, not just local FM stations. Over the years, various cable systems have carried all sorts of audio signals in the FM band: - Distant FM stations received with high-gain antennas. - Distant FM stations imported by microwave or satellite. - AM broadcast stations. - Simulcasts of monaural TV signals (e.g., HBO, Showtime). - WWV or WWVH. - Local NOAA weather station. - Local police and fire scanners. - International shortwave stations (VOA, BBC, Radio Moscow). - Satellite-delivered non-broadcast audio services. - Local college/university carrier-current stations. - Locally originated programming. Individually-processed cable FM also offered technical advantages: precise control over signal levels, excellent rejection of out-of-band signals, and the ability to assign carrier frequencies at will. Carrier-frequency assignments were made according to four criteria: - Carriers were spaced at least 400 KHz apart to accommodate FM tuners with poor selectivity. - Three frequencies near the bottom of the band (88.1, 88.3, and 88.5 MHz, or the corresponding IRC or HRC frequencies) were left vacant to avoid interference with the Channel 6 aural carrier. - Frequencies occupied by (or adjacent to) strong local FM stations were left vacant to accommodate poorly-shielded FM tuners (thereby preventing interference from FM stations into the cable FM service). - In many cases, local FM stations were not carried as cable FM signals. However, if they were to be carried, they were usually offset to different frequencies to prevent multipath distortion. If possible, they were offset 400 KHz to keep them as close as possible to their broadcast frequencies. Equipment for individually-processed carriers was available in four flavors: - FM processor: accepts a standard monaural or stereo FM signal as input, and outputs the identical signal after amplification, filtering, and (if desired), a shift to a different carrier frequency. - Monaural TV processor: accepts a standard NTSC monaural aural carrier as input; triples it (to change the deviation from +/-25 KHz to +/-75 KHz); and outputs a monaural FM signal [2]. - Monaural FM modulator: accepts a baseband monaural audio signal as input, and outputs a standard monaural FM signal. - Stereo FM modulator: accepts baseband left-and-right stereo audio signals as inputs, and outputs a standard multiplexed-stereo FM signal. During the 1960s, many cable systems in the Midwest were carrying WFMT as part of their cable FM offerings. At the outset, most of these systems received WFMT off the air, but in the early 1970s, terrestrial microwave-transmission companies began carrying WFMT to cable systems far beyond the reach of WFMT's transmitter. WFMT staff began receiving listener reports and membership contributions from listeners as far away as southern Indiana and northern Minnesota. At first, WFMT was not even aware of this new audience, and it was apparently quite surprised to discover it. It may seem strange that a cable television company could carry WFMT without WFMT's permission, or even without its knowledge. But such was the state of the nation's copyright law back in the 60s and early 70s: at the time, Congress had not significantly revised the copyright law since 1909, and the Supreme Court had flatly refused to try to apply the 1909 copyright law to the cable television industry [3]. This decision had left cable companies free to carry any domestic broadcast station -- radio or television -- without obtaining the station's permission. WFMT, of course, would have been happy to give its permission if it had been necessary. One of the cable television companies that carried WFMT in those days was Complete Channel TV, Inc., in Madison, Wisconsin, where I was Director of Engineering. We received WFMT from Midwestern Relay Company (MRC), a common-carrier microwave transmission company owned by the Journal Company of Milwaukee. MRC also provided us with several other distant stations including WGN-TV, WFMR (Milwaukee's classical-music FM station), WMVS (Milwaukee's PBS television station), and WVTV (a Milwaukee independent television station). MRC picked up the WGN-TV and WFMT signals off the air at a tower near Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and brought them to Madison over their microwave network. They carried four frequency-modulated signals within a single microwave channel: WGN-TV video on the main carrier. WGN-TV monaural audio on an aural subcarrier. WFMT left-channel audio on a separate aural subcarrier. WFMT right-channel audio on a separate aural subcarrier. By piggybacking WFMT on the WGN-TV signal, MRC could transport the WFMT signal with a minimum of capital expense; consequently, they were able to provide it to us at relatively low cost. At our headend, we provided the equipment that picked off the two WFMT subcarriers, assembled the multiplexed stereo FM signal, and inserted it into the cable FM band. Complete Channel TV's cable FM service was popular among listeners who wanted to hear classical music, because it was the only way they could hear WFMT and WFMR. Most FM subscribers took the FM service as an add- on to the basic cable TV service, but a few took FM only (at one point, I counted 23 FM-only subs out of a total subscriber base of about 20,000). Cable FM was also popular because there wasn't much classical music available off-the-air in the Madison area. This may be surprising, given that Madison is the home of the University of Wisconsin's School of Music; nevertheless, the only classical-music alternatives to cable FM were: - WERN, Madison, an NPR-affiliate operated by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, a state agency independent of the University (for state-government political reasons I'll never understand, the University itself didn't operate an FM station). WERN carried some classical music, but it never missed a chance to shove it aside for other programming. - WORT, Madison ("Back Porch Radio"), a non-profit volunteer-operated station. WORT's format was largely determined by the on-air-talent- of-the-moment, a few of whom chose classical music. But they were few and far between. - WFMR, Milwaukee, an advertising-supported classical station. It was simply too far away to receive reliably in Madison. - WNIU, DeKalb, a mostly-classical station operated by Northern Illinois University. Its signal was effectively blocked by a terminal moraine lying just south of Madison. I could hear WNIU just fine on the car radio sitting on top of that moraine, but as soon as I descended down into the Madison area, WNIU just disappeared. WERN did, however, carry BSN after midnight, so we could hear Peter Van de Graaff at two places on the dial (and if that weren't enough, we could hear him live every December when he came up to Madison to sing the bass solo in the annual sing-along "Messiah" concert). Some of Complete Channel TV's customer-service representatives didn't know much about classical music, so they had some difficulty discussing the cable FM service with customers. Since I was the resident classical-music freak (as well as the official tech guru), I often found myself fielding telephone calls from customers calling about cable FM. It was clear from my conversations with our customers that WFMT and WFMR were the main reasons why they subscribed to cable FM. In 1975, HBO placed its signal on a communications satellite, making it available nationwide. Within a year, two other television signals joined HBO on the satellite: Ted Turner's Atlanta television station WTCG (now TBS Superstation) and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN; now ABC Family). Other services soon followed, and cable companies began adding new channels as fast as they could. These new channels fell into two categories: Non-broadcast "cable-only" programming services (e.g. CBN, HBO, CNN, ESPN). Broadcast stations "secondarily retransmitted" by satellite (e.g. WTCG). A non-broadcast programmer could place its own signal on the satellite simply by contracting with the satellite carrier. But, because of a quirk in FCC policy, a broadcast station could not; only a common- carrier microwave- or satellite-transmission company could do so. And it had to obtain FCC permission to do it. Faced with this requirement, Ted Turner set up a separate satellite-transmission company called Southern Satellite Systems, and somehow managed to convince the FCC that it was independent of WTCG. Thus, Southern Satellite Systems had become the first satellite-transmission company to carry a television broadcast station via satellite [4]. The existing terrestrial microwave-transmission companies, with their years of experience carrying broadcast stations to cable headends, immediately took notice. It wasn't long before they started applying for FCC permission to carry other television stations, whether or not the stations actually wanted to be carried [5]. Four microwave companies (including MRC) applied for permission to carry Chicago's WGN-TV by satellite. The FCC resolved the issue by granting permission to all four, apparently leaving it to the marketplace to sort things out. In the end, United Video, Inc., a Tulsa-based common carrier, won the marketplace battle. Like MRC, United Video was a well- established terrestrial microwave-transmission company with a long history of carrying television and FM stations -- including WGN-TV and WFMT -- to cable systems throughout its territory in downstate Illinois and neighboring states. Meanwhile, back in Madison, Complete Channel TV continued to carry WGN-TV and WFMT from Midwestern Relay Company. Even though WGN-TV was by then available via satellite from United Video, we had MRC's terrestrial-microwave delivery locked in on a long-term contract, so their price was lower. Moreover, MRC was the only source for WFMT. One day the WFMT signal began to sound very noisy, and several subscribers called to complain. I called MRC's office to find out what was going on, but they told me they hadn't changed anything. So maybe the problem was with WFMT's transmitter? I called WFMT, and after a brief discussion with a very confused receptionist, I found myself talking with Ray Nordstrand, WFMT's General Manager. My hunch turned out to be correct: WFMT was having transmitter problems, and was operating at lower power. Then Ray started asking me some questions that had apparently been on his mind: How does cable FM work technically? How many customers subscribe to it? What is a cable company's relationship with the microwave-transmission companies? And: how could WFMT take advantage of cable FM to extend its reach? So I asked him the obvious question: why not contact United Video to see if it would carry WFMT's signal via satellite to reach a nationwide audience? (I suggested United Video because it already owned transmission facilities in the Chicago area, and I figured it could piggyback WFMT on WGN-TV just like MRC was doing.) I'm not sure what happened next. Several months later, Ray told me that he had contacted United Video; however, one of United Video's engineers told me that they had planned to add WFMT anyway. Whatever the case, in 1979, United Video added WFMT to the list of satellite-delivered program services it offered to the cable industry. Of course, United Video didn't do all this for free: cable companies were required to pay for the right to carry United Video's WFMT feed just like they were required to pay for WGN-TV or any other service. The fee for WFMT depended on how the cable company charged its customers for cable FM: - If the cable company imposed a separate monthly charge for cable FM, United Video's fee was $0.20 per month per cable FM subscriber. - If the cable company did not charge separately, the fee was $0.02 per month for every cable television subscriber whether or not the subscriber was actually connected to the cable FM service. During the next decade or so, satellites became the preferred method for distributing programming to cable television headends. As terrestrial microwave-transmission contracts expired, most cable systems that had been carrying WGN-TV by terrestrial microwave switched to satellite; those that had been carrying WFMT (including Madison's Complete Channel TV) also switched. In the process, the terrestrial microwave companies lost many of their customers (but they soon found new ones among the new long-distance companies that sprang up in the wake of the breakup of AT&T in 1984). Cable FM continued to grow during the early, thanks in large part to the lower distribution costs associated with satellite delivery: - United Video added a second classical FM station (WCPE, Wake Forest) and other satellite carriers added several FM stations in other formats. - Southern Satellite Systems created a non-broadcast analog music service called "Star Ship Stereo" (later renamed "Tempo Music"), and TCI created a similar service called "SuperAudio." Each of these services included several channels in a variety of formats, including classical. Complete Channel TV added SuperAudio to its FM service, but I wasn't impressed with its classical channel: endless repetition of the same music, obnoxious advertising, and weird technical errors. Their control software seemed to trigger on silence, so deliberate silences (such as the long rest in the middle of Wagner's "Flying Dutchman" overture) triggered switching. ===================================== ===== THE DECLINE OF CABLE FM ===== ===================================== Cable FM reached the peak of its popularity in the late 1980s. Since then, the number of cable systems providing the service has steadily declined. In the process, many cable listeners have lost their access to WFMT. Long-time WFMT listeners may remember a time several years ago when WFMT program hosts were making repeated announcements aimed at cable FM listeners: contact your local cable company and urge them not to drop WFMT. Unfortunately, many of these appeals turned out to be in vain. Why the decline in cable FM service? There are several interrelated reasons: CHANNEL CAPACITY. For many cable systems, the reason was simply the need to clear spectrum space for new video services. Back in the pre- satellite days, there weren't many video services available (in medium- market cities like Madison, there often wasn't enough programming to fill even the twelve channels on the VHF dial). In those days, cable companies had plenty of spectrum space for cable FM. But as the number of television services exploded during the 1980s, cable systems began to run out of space. There's enough room in the FM band for three television channels (95, 96, and 97), so many cable systems dropped cable FM so they could use these channels for new video services. TECHNICAL QUALITY. The technical quality of an FM station received by cable FM is somewhat degraded when compared with a direct off-air pickup. A full explanation of this issue requires some electronic theory, but it's basically this: broadband amplifiers introduce thermal noise into the signals being carried. This noise manifests itself as hiss in cable FM signals. Hiss is particularly noticeable in classical music, where the dynamic range between pianissimo and fortissimo can exceed 20 decibels. The unavoidable result was that WFMT's signal, as received by cable FM, was accompanied by a certain amount of hiss. Most FM subscribers apparently didn't notice it, but those that did had two choices: accept WFMT as it is, hiss and all, or disconnect the cable FM service. Over the years, I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to explain this choice to unhappy cable FM subscribers. COPYRIGHT. In 1976, Congress finally got around to revising the copyright law. The new law, the Copyright Act of 1976, created a legal construct known as the "compulsory license." This license guaranteed that cable systems had the right to "secondarily retransmit" broadcast stations (including AM and FM broadcast stations) without having to obtain copyright clearance from the individual stations or from any program supplier. But it also established a system for collecting royalties from cable operators and disbursing them to copyright owners. As part of the royalty-collection procedure, each cable company had to identify, by call sign, each broadcast station it carried, including each FM station. For cable systems with individually-processed cable FM service, this wasn't a problem: system operators already know which stations they were carrying. But for systems with allband-FM, this requirement was a nightmare: the system had to identify each station it was picking up, even distant stations that could barely be heard. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT. The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 imposed another barrier to cable FM service: a requirement that each cable system obtain permission ("retransmission consent") from each station (radio or television) that it carries. Cable operators not only had to identify each FM station, they also had to contact it to get permission. An operator might send the station a polite one-page letter asking for permission, but he wouldn't always get a polite letter in return. Instead, he might get a multi-page contract from the station's attorney, specifying all sorts of boilerplate about signal quality, renewal requirements, and sometimes even a demand for fees! COST. Providing cable FM service is not a trivial matter for a cable company: satellite transmission fees, staff time, vehicle expense, maintenance, and equipment amortization all add up. On top of that, the administrative hassles of dealing with copyright and retransmission- consent add more cost. Yet the revenue derived from cable FM was small: - Most cable systems charged around $1.00 to $2.00 per month for a subscriber who also subscribed to the basic cable TV service (although FM-only subscribers were usually charged the full basic- cable rate). - Some cable systems didn't charge at all; they just threw FM in with basic cable as a sort of loss leader. - Not all cable FM "subscribers" actually subscribed. Since cable FM operates with standard FM tuners, there was no way to prevent cable TV subscribers from connecting their own FM tuners to obtain cable FM without paying for it. Not surprisingly, many cable system managers concluded that the incremental revenue derived from cable FM simply didn't justify the cost of providing it. MANAGEMENT ATTITUDE. Yet another reason for the decline of cable FM: the lack of appreciation for classical music on the part of cable television management and sales personnel, and their consequent failure to understand that classical music can motivate non-subscribers to sign up for cable. Over the years, I've talked with many management people about cable FM in general, and classical music in particular. In all those years, I encountered only one manager who really understood the value of classical music: Glenn Colvin, the regional manager at Comcast's cable systems in Mississippi. In the early 1980s, most of Comcast's systems in Mississippi carried WFMT. DIGITAL AUDIO. Toward the end of the 1980s, three satellite-delivered digital audio services appeared. These services proved to be popular with cable-company managements, providing them with a convenient excuse for killing off cable FM. But, as we shall see presently, these services weren't universally popular among subscribers. The decline of cable FM continues to this day, and I'm afraid there aren't many cable systems still offering it. Even AOL Time Warner -- the company that sponsors the New York Philharmonic broadcasts with the tag line "music must be heard to be appreciated" -- doesn't carry WFMT (or any other classical station) on many of its own cable systems [6]. My former employer in Madison, now owned by Charter Communications, remains a notable exception. It recently built a new headend, and during the cutover, it dropped WFMT. Their headend engineer (a former protege of mine) advised against dropping it, but management overruled him: "that's what Music Choice [digital audio] is for." But by the end of the first day, Charter had received so many complaints from subscribers who wanted WFMT back that management was forced to reverse its decision. Charter's entire cable FM service now consists of one signal: WFMT at 105.7 MHz [7]. ==================================== ===== DIGITAL AUDIO SERVICES ===== ==================================== And this brings us to digital audio. Toward the end of the 1980s, three satellite-delivered digital audio services appeared: Digital Cable Radio (DCR) Digital Music Express (DMX) Digital Planet Digital Planet subsequently fell by the wayside, but DCR (now Music Choice) and DMX (now DMX Music) grew steadily; most cable systems now carry one or the other. Both of these services offer several audio channels of continuous uninterrupted digitally-encoded music in a variety of formats, including classical. All music is programmed from computer-controlled CD players; the data stream also includes metadata about the music in progress (title, artist, CD label, CD catalog number, etc.). The classical channels are primarily instrumental: orchestral or chamber, with an occasional piano or guitar solo. On Music Choice, there are two classical channels, both 100% instrumental; consequently even symphonic works with some vocal segments (e.g. Mahler Fourth; Beethoven Ninth) never appear. At one point, DMX offered an all-opera channel, but it dropped it after a year or so. It seemed to be a random collection of excerpts from several operas, played in random order. It had a fairly limited repertory, but it did cover the field: from "Pirates of Penzance" to "Salome". Digital audio services require a special decoder for each subscriber. The decoder tunes the correct RF carrier, demodulates it, demuxes it, decodes the desired data stream, and outputs it as separate left-and- right baseband audio signals. Each decoder is addressable, so that it can be controlled by the cable (or satellite) operator. Two types of decoders are available: - Standalone decoders for use with conventional stereo audio equipment. An example is Scientific-Atlanta's DM-2000 "cd-x" audio system, used by DMX. This decoder incorporates a 2x16 alphanumeric display in the hand-held remote; on command, the display presents the metadata in a series of screens. - Decoders embedded in cable TV set-top converters and DBS receivers. An example is Sony's line of DirecTV receivers used with Music Choice. The metadata is displayed on the TV screen at the start of each title; after 30 seconds or so, it fades out leaving a black screen. For cable television operators, digital audio offers many advantages over cable FM: - Reduced channel capacity: since the signals are digital, more audio signals can be crammed into one 6-MHz channel. - Improved technical quality: since the signals are digital, there's no hiss problem. - No copyright hassle: the program provider takes care of it. - No retransmission-consent hassle: a single contract with the program provider covers the entire service. - Improved cost structure: the wholesale cost (what the cable company pays the program provider) is higher than FM's cost, but the revenue is substantially greater: typically $5 per month plus another $5 per month for decoder rental if the customer doesn't own it. - No service theft: since the service requires special decoding equipment, theft is not a problem. - Management attitude: all smiles! No legal hassles! No theft! No hiss complaints! Higher margins! And if those crazy classical- music freaks don't like it, tough! Obviously, many cable subscribers like digital audio too, as historic posts here on TD attest: - J. Brad Hicks, discussing DCR: . - John Higdon, apparently discussing DMX: . Nevertheless, for many listeners (including me) who liked cable FM because it carried WFMT, the classical channels on both DMX and Music Choice have been enormous disappointments. Both services suffer from similar problems: endless repetition of the same music, weird technical errors, and (particularly on DMX) screwed-up metadata. A regular listener gets the impression that the people responsible for programming these services don't know anything about classical music, and don't even care. It's certainly obvious that they don't monitor the outgoing product for technical quality. By far the worst problem is repetition: - I haven't heard DMX for several years (I'm retired now), but when I was still working in the cable industry, I heard lots of complaints about repetition. And I certainly noticed it myself: that all-opera channel seemed to take about a week to cycle through its repertory of random excerpts, then it would start all over again. - Music Choice (which I get now via DirecTV) plays a variety of classical music, but certain warhorses keep coming back with unnerving regularity: Tchaikovsky Symphony #5, Beethoven Symphony #5, Franck D-minor Symphony, Liszt Piano Concerto #1, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Grofe "Grand Canyon Suite," Rimsky-Korsakov "Sheherazade." All this repetition seems particularly baffling in view of the amount of classical music that's presently available on CDs (the old Schwann catalog took up hundreds of pages just to list them). Somebody once told me that it has something to do with the contracts Music Choice and DMX have with the record companies. Perhaps so, but it seems strange that the record companies wouldn't want more of their products exposed to the public. A somewhat related problem is the practice of scheduling incomplete works. Music Choice sometimes schedules a single movement of a symphony (just the other day, it played the first movement of Beethoven's Sixth, then went on to something else). DMX's opera channel was all excerpts: it wouldn't even keep a one-act opera intact. And, of course, there is no live (or tape-delayed live) classical music -- one of WFMT's best features -- on either service. Software programming errors occasionally interrupt music in progress: - Unlike SuperAudio, DMX's interruptions weren't related to silences; they seemed to be permanently embedded in the software, and recurred every time the same music was played. Ducas's "Sorcerer's Apprentice" was inevitably cut off just before the four final ascending chords, and Verdi's "Don Carlo" was inevitably cut off midbreath during King Philip's Act IV monologue. - Music Choice still has occasional glitches, unrelated to anything I can identify. Sometimes music is abruptly cut off for no apparent reason. Sometimes a random snippet of something pops out of nowhere (recently, the first couple bars of Brahms's Piano Concerto #1 came crashing in for a second or two, then just disappeared and something else started). Sometimes a CD player gets stuck, and endlessly repeats the same segment. A few months ago, a stuck CD went on for so long that I finally sent them a fax (I wanted to call them, but their website doesn't list a phone number). Almost as disappointing is the way musical selections are identified. Since there are no voice announcements, program information is transmitted digitally and displayed on a television screen or that 2x16 alphanumeric display. What's actually displayed is the first 32 characters of what some technician enters into a computer, apparently with little thought about how it will appear on the alphanumeric display. Such as: ADAGIO AND RONDO IN C MINOR, K. 6 which, with a little forethought, could have been written without truncating the Kochel number: ADAGIO AND RONDO IN C MINOR K.617 Unhyphenated two-line wraps sometimes produce absurd results: HEBRIDES (as in the Mendelssohn overture) became HE BRIDES. STUDER (the soprano) became STUD ER. One notably screwed-up DMX metadata display told me I was listening to something called MOZART SYMPHONY NO. 2, OP. 17. Right off the bat, that looks fishy (Mozart didn't assign opus numbers). After a little research, it turns out that there really is a Symphony No. 2, Op. 17, but it's by Tchaikovsky, not Mozart. And the music actually being played? Neither Mozart nor Tchaikovsky, but orchestral excerpts from Wagner's "Ring." And that pretty much sums up my opinion of DMX: an outfit that purports to offer a classical-music service run by people who don't know the difference between Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner. At this point, one might wonder (as I have), why one of the digital- audio-service companies doesn't just arrange to carry WFMT, or some other classical station, rather than trying to program its own classical channel? A partial answer might be the legal complications: - The compulsory license that permits cable TV companies and DBS operators to carry radio stations doesn't extend to other entities (such as business offices) that the digital audio services target. But this doesn't seem like an insurmountable problem: the digital music services can control access on a channel-by-channel basis, so they should be able restrict broadcast stations to authorized receivers. - Under current law, cable companies and DBS operators still have to get retransmission consent for each station they carry, no matter how they get it. But this isn't an insurmountable problem either: the station could simply grant blanket permission. Indeed, WCPE already does: their website reads, "Retransmission Consent: Permission to rebroadcast WCPE is granted (without charge or royalty to WCPE) to any entity legally distributing audio or video services to the general public, such as AM, CATV, DBS, FM, LPFM, MATV, MDS, PTV, SMATV, SW, TV (billboard audio or test pattern audio), etc., including rebroadcast on the associated affiliates, boosters, networks, relays, translators, etc." . The real answer to this question seems to be the fact that the digital- audio companies simply don't want to do it. I've discussed this question with Gordon Carter, WFMT's Chief Engineer; according to Gordon, he has contacted both Music Choice and DMX, but nether one is interested in carrying WFMT. For determined listeners, the internet offers another way to access classical FM stations. Several excellent classical stations now stream their signals, including KING-FM, WBAA, WCPE, and WQXR. But not WFMT: it dropped its internet stream a few months ago due to the "High Cost of Royalties and Uncertainty surrounding web streaming." All of which leaves me completely WFMT-less, since I now live in Utah where the local cable company (Comcast) doesn't offer cable FM. So except for Madison and a few other places where cable subscribers still have access to WFMT via cable FM, listeners outside of the Chicago area now have only one option for receiving it: C-band satellite. The WFMT signal is still available from what used to be United Video, on Galaxy 5, Transponder 7, along with a bunch of other stuff: WGN Superstation video on the main channel. WGN Superstation audio on separate aural subcarriers. WCPE stereo audio on aural subcarriers at 5.58 and 6.12 MHz. WFMT stereo audio on aural subcarriers at 6.30 and 6.48 MHz. YUSA monaural audio on an aural subcarrier at 6.80 MHz. [8] So one of these days, I may have to buy a C-band dish. In the meantime, at least WCPE and WQXR are still available over the internet. And there's always another repeat of Tchaikovsky's Fifth on Music Choice if I'm too lazy to hassle with the computer. ------------------------------ [1] In cable TV headends employing the IRC frequency plan, Channel 6 falls at 84-90 MHz., and the 90-108 MHz block can be used for cable FM or for television Channels 95, 96, and 97. . [2] To the best of my knowledge, no manufacturer has ever built a processor that could directly convert a BTSC television stereo audio signal to a multiplexed stereo FM signal. Theoretically, such a conversion could be implemented with a BTSC demodulator feeding an FM stereo modulator; however, the equipment costs would run well over $1000, and I've never heard of a cable system that actually did it. [3] FORTNIGHTLY CORP. v. UNITED ARTISTS, 392 U.S. 390 (1968). . [4] Source: The Museum of Broadcast Communications. . [5] As soon as WTCG's signal hit the satellite, Turner hit the cable- industry trade journals with a huge advertising blitz extolling the virtues of carrying his station. But not all station owners were quite as enthusiastic about satellite carriage. In WGN-TV's case, the marketing effort was almost entirely up to United Video, although WGN-TV sometimes sent a representative to cable industry trade shows to hang out in United Video's booth. A certain San Francisco station did everything it could to prevent satellite carriage: it sued the satellite carrier, and it even refused to mail programming schedules outside its home area. [6] To the best my knowledge. If there are exceptions, I'd be happy to hear about them! [7] A frequency which, unfortunately, is adjacent to a local FM station: WMMM, 105.5 MHz ("Madison's Progressive Radio"). Nevertheless, cable-FM subscribers wanting WFMT seem to have worked around this problem. [8] Source: Lyngsat. United Video is now known as Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. "WGN Superstation" (the satellite feed) is now programmed independently of WGN-TV (the Chicago VHF television station). YUSA ("Yesterday USA") is a non-broadcast monaural audio feed featuring "Old Time Radio Shows." Links: - Lyngsat Galaxy 5 lineup: . - United Video: , . - WGN Superstation: . - WGN-TV: . - YUSA: . Neal McLain nmclain@annsgarden.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My sincere thanks to Mr. McLain for this well constructed, well presented report on the state of classical music on the radio these days and particularly 'cable FM service'. Actually there were *FOUR* stations doing classical music at one time in Chicago in the early 1960's. All during the 1940's and 1950's, WBBM (780 on the AM dial did classical music from 10 PM to 6 AM with host Jay Andres. The eight hour program was sponsored by American Airlines. It was called 'Music Til Dawn' and was on six nights per week (Tuesday through Sunday; WBBM was always off the air for transmitter work every Sunday night from midnight through about 5 AM Monday morning.) Andres' overnight program was not only on WBBM 780 in Chicago, but his sponsor also put the overnight classical music program on several other stations at the same time, such as WLW in Cincinnati. On the one night per week it did not run (late Sunday night/early Monday morning [Andres' night off and station off air]) then Franklyn MacCormick on WGN-720 AM who normally did show tunes and similar took his first two or three hours (11 PM to around 1 AM) and did classical stuff instead. Imagine, classical music, Mahler, Beethoven Bach, etc on AM radio ... that was quite interesting. Of course WBBM is and was a 'clear frequency' with fifty thousand watts. You could hear them all over the country on a hot summer night. From 1941, when WEFM (Edward F. McCormick, late president of Zenith Radio for whom the station was named) through the middle 1950's, their main 'competitor' in classical music was WBBM ! Of course WEFM was on the air from 6 AM until midnight and WBBM did not start their classical music format until 10 PM and was back to the other format about 6 AM so there was not a lot of competition. WFMT (formerly WOPA [named for the Oak Park Arms Hotel] where they began) swapped into a classical music format from whatever they were doing (as WOPA) in the early 1950's when Rita and Bernie Jacobs bought the property. They were in the Board of Education Building on LaSalle Street and Wacker Drive in those days; on the air from 6 AM to midnight. For both WEFM and (early, limited broadcasting hours WFMT), the 'backup' classical music station was WBBM overnight. WNIB (Northern Illinois Broacasters, Inc; owned by Sonia and Bill Florian) went on the air in 1955 doing exclusively jazz with a little bit of classical stuff, broadcasting from *10 AM to 5 PM only, five days per week*. Sonia went full time into classical music in 1960 and became 24 hours daily once she found a fellow to broker all the overnight hours to do jazz and other alternative music. She also brokered all the time on Sunday from 6 am to about noon to various churches. She once commented that the various churches buying all that time on Sunday morning and the overnight guy buying those huge blocks of time all night kept her financially afloat for several lean years in the 1970's and early 1980's. WBBM dropped all their overnight classical music stuff sometime in the late 1960's; Zenith Corporation sold off WEFM in 1976, but due to FCC fiat, the new owners were 'stuck with' keeping the classical music format until April, 1978. Both WEFM and WBBM were courteous enough to bid adieu politely to their classical music listeners; but Sonia simply took the $165 *million* she got for agreeing to vacate 96.9 and 97.1 plus transmitters, etc and skipped town without saying goodbye to anyone. WFMT, always the snobbish bunch refused to even acknowledge WNIB's existence until it got to the point that Sonia got ahead of WFMT in the ratings, then heads rolled over at Ray Nordstrand and Norman Pellegrini's uppity little radio station. On the day in December, 2000 that the sale was made final, and FCC approval with no restrictions became available, the general public heard about the pending demise of WNIB through an endless, mobious loop tape professionally recorded message which played several times on WNIB itself and then was released to the rest of the media. Even Ray and Norman over at WFMT sat up and took notice at that point on hearing the *obscene* dollar amount Sonia was walking away with from her original investment of several thousand dollars forty-five years earlier; forty-five long years of overnight 'alternative music' and brokered time for church services. Sonia and Bill Florian have not responded to any inquiries since. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. 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