The beginning of the end of FM?

Steely Dan, the jazz-rockers who scored a hit in 1978 with their single "FM (No Static At All)," would not be pleased.
In what will likely be the opening move in a global transition to digital radio, Norway has announced it will shut down its FM band. Norway will start turning off FM radio on Jan. 11, 2017, and plans to stop transmission of the last FM signal to the country's northernmost regions by Dec. 13 of that year.
n its statement, the Norwegian government said the cost of transmitting national radio channels through the FM network is eight times higher than via the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) system, the standard digital radio technology used across Europe. By shutting off FM, Norway's national radio channels will save more than $25 million a year, according to official figures "releasing funds for investment in radio content," argued Minister of Culture Thorhild Widvey.

 

It will be a long transition, very little of the reception hardware is in place, or even easily available...I have tried.

Howard

 

Think of many other songs referencing payphones, operators, catching trains, things that don't really exist or people really use anymore.

We're getting old.

 

how about wireless electricity? We'll tell the grandkids " I remember we used to have to actually plug the tv into a wall socket"....grand kid-"what's a TV?"

 

If I read that right, it's a government choice for government radio stations?

So all 23 listeners (in Norway) will be affected?

Commercial radio may eventually follow, but it will be a while. Since commercial radio has listeners and advertisers, replacing it with a technology that requires the millions of listeners to change several pieces of equipment would be devastating to the business if there were a wholesale FM no more change overnight.

Of course I recall when radio stations were all AM, and that's what vehicles came with for example. With a CD marking or two as well. (Civil Defense for you youngsters). When FM started to grow in the 70s, you could buy FM tuners from folks like Audiovox and add it to your vehicle with a little creative hacking.

But AM is still around today, and serves a purpose, at least at the local level. And our vehicles still have an AM function.

Be interesting to see if receivers of the future utilize all 3 types. I mean HD radio was being hyped a few years ago, but that never took off. And even internet radio (digital?) is still a bit underutilized.

 

I'm all for it, if it means more stations. I'm too damn cheap to pay for Sirius even though my truck can get it, and the local radio stations basically suck. Top 40 over and over and over and over and over and over, and idiots talking on the radio are the only choices locally.

It wasn't that long ago that analog TV went the way of the Dodo so AM and FM going away wouldn't surprise me.

 

Ten years, tops. This is coming and coming fast. We need a LOT more bandwidth for all things wireless, and analog FM and AM are using way too much bandwidth for the amount of information they can carry. Look at what happened to analog TV.

 

Why did the guy from everclear always look like a middle aged man trying to be young and cool?

 

Pretty sure the question is the answer.

 

Eventually its going to happen.I don't even listen to fm or am radio anymore.The radio stations play the same music groups and songs wether its popular or not.Satellite radio is fresher but i prefer my ipod.

 

Isn't that already here, in the avalons and now the 3rd gens.

 

He had to be young at some point! Haha

Edit: his name is Art. So no, he was always old.