It's not as bad as when KCOH was on the HD2, but I'm pretty sure it's on the to-do list. A very long to-do list, for certain.
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97.1 FM country legends
- Thread starter Radio guy
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KTHT is extremely quiet now, and both HD carrier and RDS are missing. The audio quality is also pretty bad in general and intermittently cutting out, almost sounds like they are feeding 97.1 with a tuner set to 92.9-HD2. Guessing things are getting prepped for the takeover…
On another note, KKBQ’s HD carriers still all sound awful, even the HD1.
Edit - EMF filed an application to go NCE today.
On another note, KKBQ’s HD carriers still all sound awful, even the HD1.
Edit - EMF filed an application to go NCE today.
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The FCC has now approved the KTHT sale to EMF; closing should occur quickly.
Been out of state this week, has Country Legends increased its promotion of the HD-2?
Been out of state this week, has Country Legends increased its promotion of the HD-2?
That's a common myth. The HD in HD Radio is a brand and doesn’t actually stand for anything. It was just trying to capitalize the HD brand for TV and get some free press. I would assert that was one of many mistakes made in the effort to roll out digital radio in the US. All that did was make sure HD Radio got lost in the noise surrounding HDTV, and the people who did take notice expected it to be similar to HDTV, which it’s really not.
Unlike some on these boards, I don’t think HD Radio is bad or otherwise of poor quality, but I do agree that the execution and marketing have been poor. It also came into existence about 10 years too late as radio's digital future is now on smartphones and tablets, not a proprietary technology that piggybacks onto products people don’t want.
Absolutely. I even heard Strube say that in one of the introduction meetings he did with management teams of the large group broadcasters.
The less-than-great creative product to promote the first generation of HD was a problem, but IMO it was far from the biggest problem. That was radio's failure to understand that it was never going to get HD in the dashboard on a widespread basis for free. Sirius and XM paid, and paid well, to make sure automakers and dealers included and promoted them.
Broadcast radio was a few hundred disparate ownership groups without one unified voice (and funding) to match what the satellite companies were doing. It didn't matter how good (or awful) the product was - it was never going to make it or break it just on those merits, and more than 15 model years of cars and trucks came and went along the way.
Xperi, because it's so much more than just HD Radio, is actually much better at presenting a unified front to the automakers and providing incentives to include digital radio, but it's now so late in the game it may not matter at this point.
Broadcast radio was a few hundred disparate ownership groups without one unified voice (and funding) to match what the satellite companies were doing. It didn't matter how good (or awful) the product was - it was never going to make it or break it just on those merits, and more than 15 model years of cars and trucks came and went along the way.
Xperi, because it's so much more than just HD Radio, is actually much better at presenting a unified front to the automakers and providing incentives to include digital radio, but it's now so late in the game it may not matter at this point.
Get ready for "Positive, Encouraging, 97.1!" The suffering of the Houston radio dial just increased dramatically by 10%! (joke)
I'm sure they do. They fixed it so quick I didn't even hear it.
But I did. I was in the Livingston area this afternoon, and heard a booming signal on 97.1. And for good reason, because the transmitter is in Shepherd, just down the road. The station is licensed to Cleveland, yet their RDS states that it's a Houston station. Really? That's just as true as that AM station in Lumberton being Houston's Tejano Party Station.
Anyway, as I was listening to Garth Brooks, the best selling solo artist in history, I heard silence for several seconds, at which time the program service returned to the air. My best guess is that they are connected to a stream from a smartphone or hotspot at the transmitter site, and the signal is marginal resulting in digital artifacts or loss of signal.
As I said previously, it sounds like they have a quality escape in the Engineering Department. Or they don't have an engineer.
I agree. Not only has the execution and marketing of HD have been poor, but also programming. I have not been impressed with the available choices, which I thought would either be distant radio stations offering different formats, or a selection of commercial-free genres similar to XM Satellite. Regrettably, with few exceptions (such as Univision retransmitting Tejano on 102.9 HD2 from KXTN 107.5 in San Antonio, or KLOL 101.1 featuring Tejano on HD2), HD is a vast wasteland of retransmitted local stations, or feeds for translators. So much wasted potential.
Plus, HD radios are few and far between in vehicles, because automakers have not been mandated to install them as standard equipment. If you build it they will come. But you need to offer something they want to hear. It all comes down to operating in the public interest, convenience and necessity.
To be fair, KTHT’s got a very good signal considering their stick in Shepherd. When I lived on the SW side of town, 97.1 sounded great, with HD even, on a regular basis… I was even able to pick up the HD on a tuner in my office in Sugar Land. So, I would safely state that it could be a “Houston station”.
Plus, I’m pretty sure the Wide Orbit box pumping out the voicetracks is located in a building off of Post Oak in Houston. 😂
I still have a hunch that the KTHT transmitter is being fed by a tuner set to 92.9-HD2, which would explain the sketchy signal… I can rarely pick up a reliable HD sub channel lock on any of the Senior Road signals when I’m in that area.
Bingo! Every car that I've purchased which was manufactured after 2009 had an AM/FM/Sat radio installed. No HD.
KTHT is heard throughout the Houston market. KHTW has no presence.
Nobody outside of the FCC cares about “community of license”.
Those who listen to Classical, Oldies, Texas Country, 80’s, LGBTQ+, and a few other formats on HD don’t think it’s a vast wasteland. And that will soon include the only places for Gospel and Country Legends.
BTW KXTN is 1350 in SA, though also aired on KVBH 107.5 HD-2.
That's a possibility. although it all depends on how they're feeding the transmitter is Shepherd. Receiving it over-the-air would be a stretch. Perhaps they have a receiver in Houston or Pasadena, and are sending it via the Internet or a T1 circuit. There's a network in Houston that does exactly the same thing, because they're too far from Beaumont to receive stations directly off-air.
I constantly leave my tabletop radio on 106.9 HD2 for background music with no ads. I'm quite happy with that station and would listen in the car if I had an HD radio in my old car.
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What property does Urban One/Sugarland Station Trust own in Pasadena to set up a receiver?
Like you, I was in close proximity to 97.1's signal this last week having gone to Aggieland for several days. Trip there and back produces a solid signal from KTHT from North Zulch, west of Madisonville on 21, to where I cut off at 19 in Crockett. Then, I held it until Grapeland going northbound when KEGL started to take back over on my truck's receiver. No dropouts, no distorted audio. Just more 30 year old country available almost everywhere around these parts.
You’ve been buying the wrong cars. Every car I’ve bought since 2008 has had AM/FM/HD radio installed, some had satellite, but not all.
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