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Boston area HD radio stations

raccoonradio

raccoonradio

(There is an HD board but this is specific to Boston area HD signals)--Read somewhere that with cost cutting,there aren't always technical people around to monitor and fix HD signals including HD2 or 3.
Not a high priority and maybe HD isn't the big deal we were promised, but isn't it getting into newer cars more often? Do station owners worry their unique HD2 or Hd3 programs take away listenership from their main signals?

--Quick spin around the dial of my HD portable found nothing on WBZ=FM HD2 or WROR HD2 (Men from Maine). Other Beasley HD2s were on. Just not enough signal being picked up, or did they go down and nobody noticed, or are they not bothering anymore? I would think Beasley would treasure a Sports Hub auxiliary more than old comedy sketches.

--"Why no streaming of HD signals? " Talking about the unique stations... Probably because of costs of streaming. "Hey, I'm in Texas but heard about this Vibe station on WBQT-FM HD2 and would like to hear it," someone asked me. Well, they won't stream it so you'd only get it if you visit the Boston area with your HD portable or HD in your car...

--Some unique stations on HD2 or 3 ran all blues, Irish, "WBCN free form" etc but those are gone now.But there's still Broadway on WERS, Vibe on 96.9 HD2, Breeze on 94.5 HD2 and the gay-lesbian HD2s on 101.7 and 103.3...and WRKO and WBZ newsradio are on HD2s. An HD2 on WGBH brings classical WCRB closer to Boston.
HD stations do offer more variety but they have competition from streaming, satellite radio, etc. I could get classic country on an XM channel (or by day from the 970 in Portland).
Yes, RKO and BZ AM are on HD2 but also via streaming.More and more people are using Bluetooth etc to hear their smartphones stream.
 
Btw there's a bit of HD discussion at http://www.pbrtv.com (Pittsburgh) and one poster says "The power level of the HD transmitter is much lower than the actual power of the analog signal. Some say a 50,000 watt station will have an HD signal which transmits at 5,000 watts". So there are cases where you lose the HD2 signal and it may revert back to the main signal.

They also discuss sound quality and point out H D stands for Hybrid Digital not High Definition.
 
raccoonradio said:
Btw there's a bit of HD discussion at http://www.pbrtv.com (Pittsburgh) and one poster says "The power level of the HD transmitter is much lower than the actual power of the analog signal. Some say a 50,000 watt station will have an HD signal which transmits at 5,000 watts". So there are cases where you lose the HD2 signal and it may revert back to the main signal.
Click to expand...

That is ignorance. The digital signal vs. the analog signal are not watt-to-watt comparisons. It takes less digital at FM frequencies to cover the protected contour area of an FM.

They also discuss sound quality and point out H D stands for Hybrid Digital not High Definition.
Click to expand...

Actually, it stands for nothing. They "took" the "HD" term from HDTV just to sound digital. So it means neither of those terms.
 
raccoonradio said:
--"Why no streaming of HD signals? " Talking about the unique stations... Probably because of costs of streaming. "Hey, I'm in Texas but heard about this Vibe station on WBQT-FM HD2 and would like to hear it," someone asked me. Well, they won't stream it so you'd only get it if you visit the Boston area with your HD portable or HD in your car...
Click to expand...

Digital streams pay digital licensing fees, which are based on number of streams. There is no economic benefit in radio in serving remote markets. So many stations do not stream secondary services due to cost.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Actually, it stands for nothing. They "took" the "HD" term from HDTV just to sound digital. So it means neither of those terms.
Click to expand...

Where did the "Hybrid Digital" misconception originate? I've seen it not only on this and other radio-specialist boards but in mainstream media as well. Was the phrase used in initial publicity for the new signals, maybe in Ibiquity press releases?
 
CTListener said:
Where did the "Hybrid Digital" misconception originate? I've seen it not only on this and other radio-specialist boards but in mainstream media as well. Was the phrase used in initial publicity for the new signals, maybe in Ibiquity press releases?
Click to expand...

I visited the Ibiquity HQ just down from the Arbitron offices several times when I'd do diary reviews at the ratings HQ. They were adamant in saying that "Hybrid Digital" was not and never was their origination, and that HD did not "stand for" anything.

Bob Struble attended several of our HBC programming and management meetings early on to promote HD Radio. He was very clear that the term did not mean "Hybrid Digital" or "High Definition". It was just used to make radio seem to be as modern and progressive as HDTV.
 
DavidEduardo said:
I visited the Ibiquity HQ just down from the Arbitron offices several times when I'd do diary reviews at the ratings HQ. They were adamant in saying that "Hybrid Digital" was not and never was their origination, and that HD did not "stand for" anything.

Bob Struble attended several of our HBC programming and management meetings early on to promote HD Radio. He was very clear that the term did not mean "Hybrid Digital" or "High Definition". It was just used to make radio seem to be as modern and progressive as HDTV.
Click to expand...

As opposed to Horse Drawn Radio or Howdy Doody TV.

Still, "Hybrid Digital" must have originated somewhere. I guess we'll never know for sure.
 
Ibiquity, Columbia MD
QUOTE=CTListener;6299779]As opposed to Horse Drawn Radio or Howdy Doody TV.

Still, "Hybrid Digital" must have originated somewhere. I guess we'll never know for sure.[/QUOTE]
 
DavidEduardo said:
Actually, it stands for nothing. They "took" the "HD" term from HDTV just to sound digital. So it means neither of those terms.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of about a decade ago when home improvement stores started labeling some of their paint as "High Definition", and when about 30 years ago companies started slapping "digital ready" stickers on things that had nothing to do with digital, like analog headphones and speakers.
 
So Ibiquity's big cheese lied to David's face?
Click to expand...

The terms applied to HD came out of uninformed media reports, mostly in print media.
 
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