The Beginning of the end for HD Radio

[stewie]

I can't find anything offical but as mentioned on other boards, and confirmed by this "radio ethusiast", it looks like iHeart radio has turned off all HD2 signals not feeding a translator in their markets in Northern CA.

What does this mean for the future of HD radio?
Is this the begining of the end?

 

[bulwnkl]

iHeart Radio just turned _on_ both the HD1 and HD2 transmitters a few months ago, on the most popular station in Phoenix metro, so no, this is obviously not what you say.

 

[anotherguyTN]

To me using an HD2 channel to feed a translator is probably the best thing they could be used for considering the lack of radios that can receive them except in cars.

 

[TheBigA]

There was a thread here years ago that listed all of the HD turns offs that were happening at the time.

I think if you go back within this category, you'll see lots of threads going back over ten years about the beginning of the end for HD Radio.

 

[davideduardo]

There was a thread here years ago that listed all of the HD turns offs that were happening at the time.

I think if you go back within this category, you'll see lots of threads going back over ten years about the beginning of the end for HD Radio.

In the past, the turn-offs have mostly been for AMs.

Today, we are getting to End of Life for many HD transmitters or integrated transmitter modules, which is a decision point for some stations that are not feeding a translator or generating leased channel revenue.

 

[FrankF]

In the past, the turn-offs have mostly been for AMs.

Today, we are getting to End of Life for many HD transmitters or integrated transmitter modules, which is a decision point for some stations that are not feeding a translator or generating leased channel revenue.

HD transmitters don't last that long? That's too bad for I just picked up my first HD radio last month. A Sangean HDR-14. It's pretty neat what HD subchannels are available here in the Orlando area. But then again (I know it's a topic for another thread) it's a crying shame most of this stuff is never promoted.

 

[rbc]

In the past, the turn-offs have mostly been for AMs.

Today, we are getting to End of Life for many HD transmitters or integrated transmitter modules, which is a decision point for some stations that are not feeding a translator or generating leased channel revenue.

I think it will also depend on the use of HD by the listeners in individual marketplaces, particularly for the programming that's not on the HD1 channel. Some of the programming in my marketplace isn't available via translators. It's only available via streaming or HD radio.

 

[semoochie]

HD transmitters don't last that long? That's too bad for I just picked up my first HD radio last month. A Sangean HDR-14. It's pretty neat what HD subchannels are available here in the Orlando area. But then again (I know it's a topic for another thread) it's a crying shame most of this stuff is never promoted.

This isn't a receiver issue. Some of the early transmitters are now 15 or 16 years old!

 

[anotherguyTN]

There's also the factor of areas like where I live in West TN outside Memphis where no station to my knowledge has ever had any HD subchannels. I always thought I'd like to get an HD radio but there's no point if there's nothing to listen to or nothing I'm interested in.

 

[davideduardo]

HD transmitters don't last that long? That's too bad for I just picked up my first HD radio last month. A Sangean HDR-14. It's pretty neat what HD subchannels are available here in the Orlando area. But then again (I know it's a topic for another thread) it's a crying shame most of this stuff is never promoted.

The earliest ones are the earliest technology and in some cases no longer supported for parts and service by manufacturers.

Some stations decided to only do the HD1 simulcast channel at its fullest bandwidth to improve fidelity.

 

[WJPYFM]

I am tired of the same old story why HD is failing...not enough radios. WRONG! Isn’t there endless promos about listen online with this device and that device? Aren’t Most HD2, HD3, HD4 channels streamed? So tell the sales folks to get out and sell them. Tell the promo department to advertise them on the main channel and web site, etc.
Look HD radio is only another tool to make money. It allows for multiple stations on one signal but can also show pictures with the new radios that can be used for station logos, album art, even advertising! Many stations have trouble running just one station but the FCC is giving permission to have multiple stations on one signal and on the internet too. Education of sales, promo department, and the public will be the path to success of HD radio.

 

[TheBigA]

Education of sales, promo department, and the public will be the path to success of HD radio.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

 

[davideduardo]

I am tired of the same old story why HD is failing...not enough radios. WRONG! Isn’t there endless promos about listen online with this device and that device? Aren’t Most HD2, HD3, HD4 channels streamed? So tell the sales folks to get out and sell them. Tell the promo department to advertise them on the main channel and web site, etc.
Look HD radio is only another tool to make money. It allows for multiple stations on one signal but can also show pictures with the new radios that can be used for station logos, album art, even advertising! Many stations have trouble running just one station but the FCC is giving permission to have multiple stations on one signal and on the internet too. Education of sales, promo department, and the public will be the path to success of HD radio.

Sales and promotion won't do anything unless management instruct them to. And sellers can not sell "stations" with nearly no audience. With a couple of rare and only occasional exceptions, the only HD stations with real audience are those that have an FM translator.

Nobody is buying stand-alone radios today. There is no HD on smartphones unless the audio is also streamed.

More than half of all households have smart speakers. Nearly 0% have in-home HD devices. There are still as many cars being made without HD as with it. No portable devices of significance have HD due to the power draw of the HD chip and its battery drain.

 

[rbc]

Sales and promotion won't do anything unless management instruct them to. And sellers can not sell "stations" with nearly no audience. With a couple of rare and only occasional exceptions, the only HD stations with real audience are those that have an FM translator.

I suppose it would depend on the market. If there aren't any open frequencies for a translator, HD gives a way for a broadcaster to put another channel out there. Living in Mississippi, there are plenty of open frequencies. When I lived in San Francisco, there wasn't anything available. Another aspect of the San Francisco market that I keenly remember as a listener was that the powerful signals and close spacing of the stations resulted in poor performance by cheap radios that didn't have good selectivity.

 

[WJPYFM]

You are missing the point that HD radio gives the listener a choice to listen to additional content in the car (or home). As a listener I find translators to be a bigger problem not a solution. Due to the interference they cause and are hard to receive due to their low power/interference to them. Digital FM gives stations a tool to more out there than just better quality sound but a listener is not going to buy a radio because someone told them it sounds better because it is digital. They buy a smart speaker because it can do more plus the internet has more to offer than just analog radio. They HD technology is just a tool that someday FM can transition to all digital like TV. But if all the stations give up on it because equipment end of life or too expensive to maintain or excuses like no listeners then yes it will be total failure. Just don’t give up on HD2/HD3 channels people will seek them out if they are worth listening to.

 

[TheBigA]

You are missing the point that HD radio gives the listener a choice to listen to additional content in the car (or home).

If that's what they want. But they have lots of other options that provide additional content. My view is that radio isn't "giving up" on HD, but they're in a holding pattern on it for the short term. There are two things radio owners are waiting one: (1) Will the FCC loosen up ownership rules, and (2) What happens when the HD Radio patent runs out? Those two things will have a lot to do with the future of HD radio.

 

[rbc]

If that's what they want. But they have lots of other options that provide additional content. My view is that radio isn't "giving up" on HD, but they're in a holding pattern on it for the short term. There are two things radio owners are waiting one: (1) Will the FCC loosen up ownership rules, and (2) What happens when the HD Radio patent runs out? Those two things will have a lot to do with the future of HD radio.

I'd heard that HD sub-channels didn't count against an owner as a "station". Doesn't that encourage HD Radio when the market is big enough?

 

[TheBigA]

I'd heard that HD sub-channels didn't count against an owner as a "station". Doesn't that encourage HD Radio when the market is big enough?

That's correct, and was very enticing when it was first discussed 20 years ago. Since then, the reality is less encouraging.

The other positive thing is because it uses the broadcast signal, it isn't subject to additional SoundExchange music royalties.

 

[davideduardo]

I'd heard that HD sub-channels didn't count against an owner as a "station". Doesn't that encourage HD Radio when the market is big enough?

Short wave stations don't count, either. That never helped any commercial station, and probably brought on the failure of Joe Costello's WRNO in New Orleans.

 

[rbc]

I'm curious about the cost of separate analog transmission facilities versus HD radio sub-channels. Are HD radio sub-channels always more expensive to run than analog facilities? It seems like having separate transmitter, feedline and antenna facilities have costs of their own. I know that frequency domain muliplexing can be used to share feedline and antenna facilities in certain situations, but that adds complexity.