Element9 said:
The problem here is the marketing and distribution of HD Radio. Right now, unless you buy a new car that has HD Radio included, you're asking people to spend at least $50 to listen to HD Radio. And that price is just for the "ok but not really great" portable HD radio receiver available exclusively at Best Buy. Not a bad little unit, but the only way to recharge it is to plug it into a USB port. If you want a tabletop or desktop HD radio, you're talking about $100 or more. Aftermarket car stereos are about that much or more even without HD radio, so getting one with HD Radio will set you back at least $150, usually more.
What puzzles me the most is that the prices remain high even though people aren't necessarily flocking in droves for HD Radio. Is it because Ibiquty's licensing fees are way too high? Again, if people aren't buying the radios, then maybe it's time for Ibiquity to lower those rates. If consumers could get into HD radio for a lower price, they'd buy more HD Radios, and Ibiquity would benefit from sales volume more than the "premium" price.
In the end, Ibiquity is screwing radio stations because they've charged stations so much money for the gear enabling them to broadcast in HD, but then they make it tough for these stations to build an audience for it. In a climate where radio is struggling just to remain relevant in the first place, Ibiquity would do the entire industry a big favor by giving the masses much easier/cheaper access to HD Radio.
We all knew HD Radio would be a hard sell to begin with, given that FM Stereo is already pretty good. Yes, FM radio in HD sounds better, but not "better enough" for most people to justify the investment. (Yes, HD Radio does wonders for AM-- but you don't have nearly as many people interested in AM radio.) Ibiquity really needs to do whatever it can to get more receivers out there, and then maybe charge radio stations a little more for the broadcasting equipment. After all, right now we broadcasters turning away from HD because of the lack of listener demand... but if HD Radio was more prevalent, more people would be more demanding of HD programming.
Of course, I'll put some of the blame on the broadcasters themselves, for not being more creative about their HD programming. How long has Clear Channel filled its Syracuse HD-2 signals with national feeds of niche formats most people don't care about and/or formats that are just a slightly different version of the main signal? Instead of making the HD-2 something similar to the main FM signal, why not attack competitors formats? WYYY-HD2 could be an oldies station. Make WWHT-HD2 a rock station. Putting WSYR on WPHR-HD2 is a great move... it's like listening to the program feed right out of the board, rather than the crappy AM quality. Put WHEN on one of the HD-2s.
Citadel could fight fire with fire, putting a country station on WAQX-HD2, and WNSS on another HD2. Perhaps the third FM station could carry jazz or urban music on its HD2.
Bottom line: don't use HD2 to compliment (and compete with) your own formats... use it to attack your rivals head-on in ways you never could before.