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DO WE AGREE ABOUT HD?
- Thread starter Steve Eberhart
- Start date
Here's my take on HD radio: It is a failure. It's an unreliable technology that has been poorly implemented. The public has no interest in it at all. The radios have not sold well. I would doubt the claims that "millions" of radios have been sold. I doubt it's more than a million if even that.
It's nearly impossible to get a good listen to the benefits of an HD radio in a store. It is seemingly impossible to hear AM HD in ANY store. The salespeople don't understand the product. A year or so ago there were a few big displays of HD radios in some of the local electronics stores touting the benefits of HD and showing off several radios. About six months later those displays were moved to the back of the radio aisle and there were fewer radios on display. Now the displays are gone and the HD radios are hard to find in those stores.
HD on FM is okay because it has not really hurt the analog reception of the stations. The added programming could be a benefit and the reception is more reliable than AM HD reception. That's not to say FM HD reception is reliable.
For AM, the loss of analog quality and increase in noise on the band far offsets any benefit the stations get from the few people who hear the stations in HD. It is a 100% waste of money.
My hope is that AM HD will go away. I would have no problem with it if they could make the reception of the HD signal more reliable (on both bands) and do it on AM without the sideband noise and loss of analog quality.
As for satellite: I have XM in both of my cars and love it. I still listen to terrestrial radio too. I think both can coexist to meet different needs. I hope satellite radio survives its infancy. I think the merger will help, but they're not out of the woods yet. Let's see what happens now that they've merged the lineups on the two services. I suspect the cost savings will help quite a bit, but I have no idea if it'll be enough to turn a profit. With nearly 20 million subscribers, one would think they could find a way to make it work.
As for satellite vs. HD: satellite has the upper hand. I can find satellite radios easily and get a good demonstration of the technology in almost any store. As mentioned above, it is hard to find HD radios and you can't get a good demonstration of the technology when you do.
It's nearly impossible to get a good listen to the benefits of an HD radio in a store. It is seemingly impossible to hear AM HD in ANY store. The salespeople don't understand the product. A year or so ago there were a few big displays of HD radios in some of the local electronics stores touting the benefits of HD and showing off several radios. About six months later those displays were moved to the back of the radio aisle and there were fewer radios on display. Now the displays are gone and the HD radios are hard to find in those stores.
HD on FM is okay because it has not really hurt the analog reception of the stations. The added programming could be a benefit and the reception is more reliable than AM HD reception. That's not to say FM HD reception is reliable.
For AM, the loss of analog quality and increase in noise on the band far offsets any benefit the stations get from the few people who hear the stations in HD. It is a 100% waste of money.
My hope is that AM HD will go away. I would have no problem with it if they could make the reception of the HD signal more reliable (on both bands) and do it on AM without the sideband noise and loss of analog quality.
As for satellite: I have XM in both of my cars and love it. I still listen to terrestrial radio too. I think both can coexist to meet different needs. I hope satellite radio survives its infancy. I think the merger will help, but they're not out of the woods yet. Let's see what happens now that they've merged the lineups on the two services. I suspect the cost savings will help quite a bit, but I have no idea if it'll be enough to turn a profit. With nearly 20 million subscribers, one would think they could find a way to make it work.
As for satellite vs. HD: satellite has the upper hand. I can find satellite radios easily and get a good demonstration of the technology in almost any store. As mentioned above, it is hard to find HD radios and you can't get a good demonstration of the technology when you do.
B
ButtnPushr
Guest
I know I'm gonna sound like a dope here, but I'l ask anyway: Do the "other" channels on HD radio have commericals? I know NOTHING about it, so I'm just asking. I'm a Sirius guy and I'm just curious about the draw of HD? All I know is, there is "other programming" and a better signal. Is that it?
ButtnPushr said:Do the "other" channels on HD radio have commericals?
I've heard billboards on The Strip (100.3-HD2)--"the strip is brought to you by...." but no actual spots.
99.5-HD2 has regular spots, but that's because they're simulcasting 1310/The Ticket.
board monkey said:little1 said:Would that be the satellite radio that has yet to turn a profit, that has to continually issue more stock (watering down shareholder value) as a way to retire debt, that recently had to merge with their competitor to remain a viable buisness, and whose deals with big name talent (like Howard) major sports franchises (MLB, NFL etc) and car manufacturers (who've been installing their product in their cars as part of that deal) all expire soon?board monkey said:I believe that satellite will be the ultimate end result of radio.
THAT satellite radio?
Yes sir! It WILL be the radio of the future. It may be struggling now, but just wait till the next generation of cars starts hitting the streets. What we have now as cars isn't even the tip of the ice burg. Just mark my words.
What radio is now is the equivalent of arranging the chairs on the Titanic.
Satellite Radio has had 21 years to become the Radio of the Future.. it hasnt happened yet.
HD radio on AM is useless.
HD Radio on FM does have a future.
LibertyNT said:Satellite Radio has had 21 years to become the Radio of the Future.. it hasnt happened yet.
HD radio on AM is useless.
HD Radio on FM does have a future.
21 years? You're talking about from the time the companies formed, got FCC licensing, raised the billions needed to build and launch satellites.. yeah.. 21 years. However, the consumer has had 7 years to adopt satellite radio. So far, close to 20 million people are using the service. In 7 years time that seems like a pretty good start.
ButtnPushr said:I know I'm gonna sound like a dope here, but I'l ask anyway: Do the "other" channels on HD radio have commericals? I know NOTHING about it, so I'm just asking.
The HD Radio Alliance limits the type of advertising that can air on the digital subchannels. Owners that aren't members of the alliance can air whatever they want, including commercials. Of course, you have to be able to sell the subchannels.
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