"What they should do with HD is have congress Mandate everyone get on by Feb 2010, thats the only way people will get one. because right now stations have formats on there "side channels" that wouldnt hack it on a college station let alone a 50k fm frequency so they need to come up with something because HD is --- BEEEEEEEEEPPPPPP (flat line)"
HD may be flatlining from lack of interest, but I disagree about the programming - at least in the SF Bay Area where I live. I needed a new FM/CD in my car, and the HD model was only $20 more than the regular model, so I thought - what the heck...why not.
I'm enjoying the HD 2 channels here, which include 50s-60s Oldies, Classic Country, real jazz, Top 40, a second classical channel, old school rap and R&B, etc. It's filling a lot of format holes in the Bay Area, though there's no Standards format that I'm aware of.
The playlists are generally sizable. Granted, it's nothing but songs and liners - no jocks. But you can't expect the stations to spend much money on something that has very few listeners so far. I'm old enough to remember regular FM in the late 50s and early 60s, and its very similar - no jocks, and lots of automation.
On the bright side - no commercials so far - which is even better than regular FM in the 50s and 60s, which usually had a few commercials per hour.
HD might take off if the broadcasters and manufacturers emphasize that an HD tuner is about the same price as non-HD, and if they pressure automakers to put HD enabled stereos in new cars. So far, I think only BMW is doing so.
