scanman1 said:
Give it a chance, it will make it to the mainstream masses. For now, it's still fairly new tech.
As far as subscriptions go, those will be necessary for extended services, such as specials, live concerts, and extended data services not for the main broadcast signals. 8)
"Apple Introduces the New iPod" July, 2004
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jul/19ipod.html
"First HD Radio Sold"
"Digital Corporation announced today that an Iowa buyer became "first in the nation" to purchase an HD Radio tuner. Nathan Franzen purchased a Kenwood KTC-HR100 HD Radio tuner from the Ultimate Electronics store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Monday, January 5, 2004."
http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/ibiquity.html
Google Trends for "HD Radio" versus iPod:
http://www.google.com/trends?q="hd+radio",+ipod&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all
The new iPod was introduced in 2004, along with the first HD radio sold - the HD Radio Alliance ad campaign has been going on for a year, with HD radios available to consumers. As you can see from the Google Trends graph, which calculates the number of searches for "HD Radio" and "iPod", there should be some sign of a heartbeat, by now, for HD Radio. Notice how the graph for iPods, which is a highly-successful technology, took-off and has remained fairly constant- this is a perfect example of failed versus highly-successful technologies. If HD Radio was going to replace analog radio, it would have needed a similar reaction, as the iPod. HD Radio is just competing with Satellite Radio, as a niche technology.