• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Do any stations promote their HD Radio signals? No wonder nobody cares...

P

PaulKTF

I have never heard a radio station air a spot that says "Listen to our HD Radio signal on (whatever frequency) to hear (whatever format) and go to hdradio.com to learn more about HD Radio".

Ever.

I only know that some of my local FM stations have HD Radio sub-channels from their Wikipedia pages. Even the HDRadio.com website station listings are hopelessly outdated and inaccurate.

I only know what HD Radio is because I heard about it on Radio discussion forums like this one. I've never heard a radio commercial for it. I've never seen a TV commercial for it. I've never seen a HD Radio for sale in a store or advertised in a print ad.

So here's your Zen Riddle of the day: If a HD Radio signal is being broadcast but nobody actually has the hardware to listen to it, or knows it exists, does it really make a sound?
 
PaulKTF said:
I have never heard a radio station air a spot that says "Listen to our HD Radio signal on (whatever frequency) to hear (whatever format) and go to hdradio.com to learn more about HD Radio".

Ever.

I only know that some of my local FM stations have HD Radio sub-channels from their Wikipedia pages. Even the HDRadio.com website station listings are hopelessly outdated and inaccurate.

I only know what HD Radio is because I heard about it on Radio discussion forums like this one. I've never heard a radio commercial for it. I've never seen a TV commercial for it. I've never seen a HD Radio for sale in a store or advertised in a print ad.

So here's your Zen Riddle of the day: If a HD Radio signal is being broadcast but nobody actually has the hardware to listen to it, or knows it exists, does it really make a sound?
Click to expand...

WDRC-FM Hartford promoted its '50s-'60s oldies stream heavily during the first year or so, but had stopped mentioning it at all by the time Buckley Broadcasting sold the station to Connoisseur Media in 2014. Connoisseur kept the HD2 but never promoted it, and neither has Red Wolf, the small New England chain that took the station off Connoisseur's hands earlier this year. I believe Buckley was affiliated with the former HD Alliance, broadcast groups that all promoted HD at first.
 
PaulKTF said:
I have never heard a radio station air a spot that says "Listen to our HD Radio signal on (whatever frequency) to hear (whatever format) and go to hdradio.com to learn more about HD Radio".

Ever.

I only know that some of my local FM stations have HD Radio sub-channels from their Wikipedia pages. Even the HDRadio.com website station listings are hopelessly outdated and inaccurate.

I only know what HD Radio is because I heard about it on Radio discussion forums like this one. I've never heard a radio commercial for it. I've never seen a TV commercial for it. I've never seen a HD Radio for sale in a store or advertised in a print ad.

So here's your Zen Riddle of the day: If a HD Radio signal is being broadcast but nobody actually has the hardware to listen to it, or knows it exists, does it really make a sound?
Click to expand...

We certainly promote all four our HD Channels! However, we don't promote them as if they were separate stations. We treat it kind of like a website where the HD1 / FM channel is our home page and the HD2, 3 and 4 are additional choices in our "menu."
Here is how we promote it on our site:
Our full schedule

https://www.kvcb-online.com/broadcast-schedule
Our HD info page:

https://www.kvcb-online.com/hd-radio-information

We're a school radio station so our goals may be different than other stations that may not be as hyper-local. The students have 96 hours a day to program. You gotta love radio!!
 
gr8oldies said:
Some NPR stations will mention or promote them.
Click to expand...

Vermont Public Radio's classical music network mentions its HD2 availability a few times a day in either its top or bottom of the hour litany of call letters and frequencies, a lengthy recitation that always includes its eight full-signal stations, two or three of its similarly plentiful translators, and a plug for the online stream or home speaker devices. The HD is clearly the least "pushed" of the network's numerous listening options.
 
PaulKTF said:
I have never heard a radio station air a spot that says "Listen to our HD Radio signal on (whatever frequency) to hear (whatever format) and go to hdradio.com to learn more about HD Radio".

Ever.
Click to expand...

Ever? "Ever" is a very long time. Under the terms of their deal with the HD Radio alliance, about a dozen major radio companies ran pre-recorded announcements promoting HD Radio in a general way, and specific HD stations associated with the primary station. You may not remember hearing them, but it happened. There is documentation on it. Having said that, after iBiquity was sold to DTS a few years ago, a lot of that campaign went by the wayside.

But secondarily, do you pay attention to top of the hour legal IDs? Because if a station is being simulcast on HD (as many AM stations are), they will include the HD-2 channel information as part of their legal ID.
 
This is how Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) promotes music radio:

"MPB MUSIC RADIO

Since 1985 MPB has been Mississippi’s source for news and entertainment on the radio. MPB Think Radio features thought provoking news and analysis programs as well as shows that entertain and inspire. MPB’s HD channel, MPB Music Radio, features music from an array of musical genres. Our diverse lineups on both MPB Think and Music radio offer something for every listener."

That's why I went HD. It's not available on analog radios.
 
PaulKTF said:
I have never heard a radio station air a spot that says "Listen to our HD Radio signal on (whatever frequency) to hear (whatever format) and go to hdradio.com to learn more about HD Radio".

Ever.
Click to expand...

A good example of someone successfully and frequently promoting their HD-2 channel on their analog/HD-1 is All Classical Portland, KQAC-FM 89.9Mhz. They have 24/7 Classical XMAS music on their HD-2, and even a separate second web stream. Since the launch about a month ago, it's really gained popularity: https://www.allclassical.org/
Check out the HD-2 stream in their "Spotlight" section of the home page.

I believe they've even started their own Amazon affiliate page to help promote the sales of HD radios.
 
I think the inconsistent promotion of HD is just an outcome of how it was deployed. Instead of a regulatory "switch to digital", the marketplace was given the option of when to deploy it, based on their own requirements in their marketplace. It's not surprising that some broadcasters have embraced the technology, while some have not. The same goes for the radio manufacturers.

Xperi Corporation probably has the most to gain from promotion of HD, but I don't get the sense that there is a lot of that going on. Where are the Super Bowl ads? It seems like a driver for HD adoption is in major radio markets where HD radio helps deploy more programming in markets where they have hit their ownership caps.

As a consumer, one thing that draws me to HD Radio is the support for emergency alerts. At home I have a couple of SAME Weather Radio receivers. I had hoped that HD radio would eliminate the weather radios, but my HD broadcaster doesn't support HD Radio emergency alerts yet. Oh well. I'll get it some day.
 
rbc said:
As a consumer, one thing that draws me to HD Radio is the support for emergency alerts. At home I have a couple of SAME Weather Radio receivers. I had hoped that HD radio would eliminate the weather radios, but my HD broadcaster doesn't support HD Radio emergency alerts yet. Oh well. I'll get it some day.
Click to expand...

The number of potential HD receiver buyers who'd decide not to buy because of this issue of emergency alerts could probably be counted on two hands -- nationally.
 
CTListener said:
The number of potential HD receiver buyers who'd decide not to buy because of this issue of emergency alerts could probably be counted on two hands -- nationally.
Click to expand...

Weather radio buyers are not particularly rare though, The Midland WR120B/WR120EZ NOAA Weather Radio has 2,274 reviews on Amazon the last time I checked. That's probably a fraction of the buyers. If broadcasters started using the alert capabilities in their HD Radio broadcast and promoted it, it would probably help adoption of the radios and listener access to HD only programming.
 
rbc said:
Weather radio buyers are not particularly rare though, The Midland WR120B/WR120EZ NOAA Weather Radio has 2,274 reviews on Amazon the last time I checked. That's probably a fraction of the buyers. If broadcasters started using the alert capabilities in their HD Radio broadcast and promoted it, it would probably help adoption of the radios and listener access to HD only programming.
Click to expand...

Don't forget to eliminate the duplicate reviews by the same buyer under different names and the "sock puppet" reviews by people associated with Midland or its distributor. Weather radios are still a micro-niche when it comes to the public as a whole. Even if 5,000 people have bought this model and another 10,000 own similar radios, all those users are scattered around the country and would not help sell HD receivers to any measurable extent on the national level. I have a feeling a good number of weather radio owners are in rural areas with no HD signals at all. No HD receivers will wind up in their hands.
 
CTListener said:
I have a feeling a good number of weather radio owners are in rural areas with no HD signals at all. No HD receivers will wind up in their hands.
Click to expand...
I lived in the Bay Area where Weather Radio alerts were primarily amber alerts. Living in Mississippi, aka Tornado Alley, my weather radios get a workout during storm season. Weather radios are also sold seasonally by the local drug and grocery stores. We do have plenty of HD radio coverage for most of rural Mississippi thanks to MPB.
 
KWMU St. Louis (St. Louis Public Radio) has promoted their HD service and subchannels over the years.

In Kansas, the services of "Radio Kansas" (also an NPR affiliate) promote their HD subchannels actively on air and online.

In the Los Angeles area, there was a frequency merger between AAA KCSN and Smooth Jazz KSBR, giving KCSN better coverage on 88.5. The Smooth Jazz moved to the HD-2 exclusively (and stream) with an on air staff as well.
 
CTListener said:
The number of potential HD receiver buyers who'd decide not to buy because of this issue of emergency alerts could probably be counted on two hands -- nationally.
Click to expand...

Yes. There are already plenty of great NOAA Weather Radios for people who want to get weather alerts (both for the home and portable "on the go" models). They even make models that include AM/FM radios so you can get local radio stations in addition to the NOAA Weather Radio features.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom