CBS HD radio imports protested

[Carmine5]

Interesting article in today's RBR: "CBS HD radio imports protested"

http://www.rbr.com/radio/19260.html

It Concerns Mt. Wilson Broadcasters' complaint against CBS bringing in a competing Country format on one of their HD side channels.

RBR makes this observation:

"...is it wise to further fragment the radio audience by introducing any side channels at all? Shouldn’t HD be used to enhance broadcast quality in an effort to maintain enough signal scarcity to allow broadcasters to offer a reasonably-sized audience to advertisers?"

But I think this complaint might also bring up the issue of whether or not side channels should be factored in to the limit of stations one company can own in any given market. In the end, I can't see the FCC ruling against this move by CBS as it touches on programming issues which is something the Commission doesn't involve itself with.

c5

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Interesting article in today's RBR: "CBS HD radio imports protested"

http://www.rbr.com/radio/19260.html

It Concerns Mt. Wilson Broadcasters' complaint against CBS bringing in a competing Country format on one of their HD side channels.

RBR makes this observation:

"...is it wise to further fragment the radio audience by introducing any side channels at all? Shouldn’t HD be used to enhance broadcast quality in an effort to maintain enough signal scarcity to allow broadcasters to offer a reasonably-sized audience to advertisers?"

But I think this complaint might also bring up the issue of whether or not side channels should be factored in to the limit of stations one company can own in any given market. In the end, I can't see the FCC ruling against this move by CBS as it touches on programming issues which is something the Commission doesn't involve itself with.

c5

Why complain? Only a handful of people are out there listening to HD-2 formats anyway.

 

[Carmine5]

Interesting article in today's RBR: "CBS HD radio imports protested"

http://www.rbr.com/radio/19260.html

It Concerns Mt. Wilson Broadcasters' complaint against CBS bringing in a competing Country format on one of their HD side channels.

RBR makes this observation:

"...is it wise to further fragment the radio audience by introducing any side channels at all? Shouldn’t HD be used to enhance broadcast quality in an effort to maintain enough signal scarcity to allow broadcasters to offer a reasonably-sized audience to advertisers?"

But I think this complaint might also bring up the issue of whether or not side channels should be factored in to the limit of stations one company can own in any given market. In the end, I can't see the FCC ruling against this move by CBS as it touches on programming issues which is something the Commission doesn't involve itself with.

c5

Why complain? Only a handful of people are out there listening to HD-2 formats anyway.

Exactly! How many have HD Radio owners in Los Angeles; how many of those listen to Country music and how many will tune into CBS's Country side channel? The number gets smaller with each question.

Of course, to hear Bob Struble tell it, HD Radio sales are growing. 734,000 HD Radios sold this year so far.

From Inside Radio:

"Speaking Friday at the Monetizing Audio Technology Virtual Event, Struble said “We’re coming up on 2 million HD radios in the marketplace.”"

http://www.insideradio.com/default.asp

 

[KB1OKL]

If there were 2,000,000 sold : I wonder how many are gathering dust?

 

[stacker]

Why complain? Only a handful of people are out there listening to HD-2 formats anyway.

One of the concerns would not be with the HD-2 channel per se, but the real possibility that the HD-2 channel could be introduced as another analog signal into the market via a translator. The Commission permits this. Frankly, this practice bends the intent of the rules governing fill-in translators. If a station wants to use a fill-in translator assist reception of its HD-2 format, fine. Do it in the mode in which the format was originally transmitted (digital).

 

[LynnW]

Wow! If there are actually almost 2 million HD radios in circulation, a whopping 0.64% of the population owns one.

 

[Tom Wells]

If there were 2,000,000 sold : I wonder how many are gathering dust?

Mine is. I can see it over there on the other side of the room, stacked on top of an old Zenith CRT NTSC television that was at my father's house... I haven't had it plugged in for over a year, because the analog response makes it unusable. Consonants disappear due to the
AM bandwidth being so narrow, and it would barely ever decode any HD, even when coupled into a tunable loop antenna.

 

[Chuck]

If there were 2,000,000 sold : I wonder how many are gathering dust?

My Sony HD table radio is now at our transmitter site. (We do not broadcast in HD.) It is there because I needed to know if I've done something that just took us off the air, and it wasn't doing much good in my bedroom. My old BA Receptor (analog version) sounds a lot better in the bedroom position.

The Sony goes loud enough to hear over all the fan and HVAC noise. It is a very noisy room. Further, it displays RDS, and it is nice to know if that is working properly before locking up the place and getting into the car. If I really need to critically listen to our signal, I can plug in some headphones. Since the radio is about 15 feet from the transmitting tower and five feet from the transmitter, sensitivity is not a problem. To my amazement, its selectivity remains quite good, even in this high RF environment.

If anything good has come from HD Radio; it is the amazing analog performance of some (but not all) of these radios. Which leads me to another point: It is obviously quite possible to build radios at reasonable prices that are far superior to what we are usually subjected to. So why haven’t they made it to market? I'm sure that price is part of it, but a lot of people will buy quality if given the chance.

 

[ddsparxx]

If there were 2,000,000 sold : I wonder how many are gathering dust?

I would think that most HD radios that aren't being returned are in closets or attics gathering dust though I don't have a clue how many are there getting the dust on them.

 

[radiotower40]

In my opinion I think it is great that they are trying to fight CBS over this. The FCC has done nothing about
addressing the interference issues, that many of us have complained about here and to the FCC. Even though
someone that post's here seem to think that if your station is not market 20 or above that your listeners are "nobody's",
and therefore don't deserve to have decent radio reception.

Maybe, and that's a big maybe, the FCC will have to admit that this a way of allowing stations to exceed
ownership limits.

Just picture the pickle Struble could possibly be in with this. He tells us how HD is on course, even though
we all know less than 1% of the country owns, or wants one of his radio's. Could you imagine how great
it would be for him to have to say that this is not violating ownership limits because "nobody" is listening
to HD 2 or 3's, or any HD radio for that matter.

That's just my 2 cents, but, I think any attention that is brought to the problem of HD radio is a good thing!

 

[JohnnyElectron]

My Directed Electronics HD car tuner is broken already - won't decode jack, no audio at all; shows full signal strength on all frequencies and bands.
So, in just 2 years of use, a dead radio, and nobody at Directed Electronics (DICE) will help me with warranty repair or replacement.
So now I have no HD radio unless Mr. Struble can get somebody to help me get my tuner repaired or replaced?

 

[Carmine5]

In my opinion I think it is great that they are trying to fight CBS over this. The FCC has done nothing about
addressing the interference issues, that many of us have complained about here and to the FCC. Even though
someone that post's here seem to think that if your station is not market 20 or above that your listeners are "nobody's",
and therefore don't deserve to have decent radio reception.

Maybe, and that's a big maybe, the FCC will have to admit that this a way of allowing stations to exceed
ownership limits.

Just picture the pickle Struble could possibly be in with this. He tells us how HD is on course, even though
we all know less than 1% of the country owns, or wants one of his radio's. Could you imagine how great
it would be for him to have to say that this is not violating ownership limits because "nobody" is listening
to HD 2 or 3's, or any HD radio for that matter.

That's just my 2 cents, but, I think any attention that is brought to the problem of HD radio is a good thing!

Oftentimes when you bring a complaint before a bureaucracy like the FCC you invoke the law of unintended consequences. The Commission may decide against Mt. Wilson or write a ruling that negatively impacts other broadcasters or all broadcasters.

Mt. Wilson Broadcasters has been a strong proponent of HD Radio from the beginning (I believe their AM station, KGIL, is still running IBOC). So, in a way, they're getting an early start on the law of unintended consequences as CBS decides to put a competing, successful Country format on one of their HD side channels. The best Mt. Wilson can hope for, at this point, is that few of their Country listeners has HD Radio.

c5

 

[rbrucecarter5]

So, in a way, they're getting an early start on the law of unintended consequences as CBS decides to put a competing, successful Country format on one of their HD side channels. The best Mt. Wilson can hope for, at this point, is that few of their Country listeners has HD Radio.

HD-2 is where station managers put rejected formats they don't like to whither and die. It shuts up a handful of fanatics that otherwise would tie up the switchboard with complaints "but we are still broadcasting that format, we just changed it to our HD-2 channel - its time to upgrade!"

Still, I have to admit, if somebody put a decent Christian rock format on an HD-2 channel out here, I'd be swapping car radios that day to get it - instead of that cruddy praise and worship they try to pass off as "CCM". There is my niche format, you got yours, everybody has one. Trouble is - my statement above is a bit outdated. All I need now is an iPod dock, because I can stream my selected format, and it works anywhere I get 3G, which includes everywhere I am likely to drive.

 

[K6JHU]

"Still, I have to admit, if somebody put a decent Christian rock format on an HD-2 channel out here, I'd be swapping car radios that day to get it - instead of that cruddy praise and worship they try to pass off as "CCM"."

I know religious 107.9 in LA (OC Actually) plays music on their HD-2. But I am not up on which exact genre.

 

[Ai4i]

We have one in the car and are aware of several markets in which we would be listening to HD-2's.
A classical music devotee, we have seen the format replaced by NPR news/talk on all too many stations, but the classical music does get relegated to the HD-2 subchannel. We know of at least one station that runs both formats on both channels but never at the same time. When one has N/T the other has "Classical 24" and visa versa.

One soft A/C station in Miami lights up their HD Xmas tree only during December.
The rest of the year they only have analogue and HD-1 (what a waste).

 

[SUPERCASTER]

My Directed Electronics HD car tuner is broken already - won't decode jack, no audio at all; shows full signal strength on all frequencies and bands.
So, in just 2 years of use, a dead radio, and nobody at Directed Electronics (DICE) will help me with warranty repair or replacement.
So now I have no HD radio unless Mr. Struble can get somebody to help me get my tuner repaired or replaced?

"It's time (again) to upgrade!" :
Perhaps your HD radio's license fee expired.

How many here expect any new radios they buy to last more then a year or two?

The frequent reports here of HD radio failures are appalling.

 

[SUPERCASTER]

There are no "monthly" fees with HD radio, the HD radio license fees are included in the required HD radio chip price in the radio. The whole HD radio "expires" after a year or two and the HD radio becomes a "doorstop" that won't even get analog radio. If you want to continue to listen to HD radio, you have to buy a new one. No HD radio license fee discount or rebate for the new replacement HD radio.

What a sweet racket.

 

[Tom Wells]

Wow! I've only put about 2 - 3 hours, at most, of use on my Radio Shack Accurian HD.
At this rate it might still work in 2109.
I could order one of those AC powered-up time accumulator meters to help me meter my usage of the radio.
I'd better start figuring out who to bequeath it to.
Do they die on clock/calendar time, or accumulated hours?
Maybe it's already died just sitting over there on the shelf for the past 16 months?

I bet the Edison cylinder player will still work if I wound it up and stuck on a cylinder.

 

[davideduardo]

The whole HD radio "expires" after a year or two and the HD radio becomes a "doorstop" that won't even get analog radio.

Not true, of course.

 

[SUPERCASTER]

The whole HD radio "expires" after a year or two and the HD radio becomes a "doorstop" that won't even get analog radio.

Not true, of course.

Are you claiming those reporting HD radio failures after a year or two are lying?

If not, then what's not true?

They already paid once to have HD radio, the warranty has expired, the radio died and now they have to pay to listen all over again.

How about a $100.00 credit toward a new radio to ease their painful experience with their defective HD radio?

Many are car radios that required extensive installation and perhaps modifications.

A radio should last longer then a year or two. Most non-HD radios typically last decades before they fail.