dxer720 said:
I enjoy HD radio, however, I don't think it will be around long in it's current form.
Right now, the only advantage to HD over plain ol' analog, is the "stations between the stations" mulitcasts. Even if we can get the technical issues ironed out, people won't be willing to buy an HD radio unless there's something new to hear on it.
Get the tech specs for HD up & develop & promote good multicast programming. Maybe then, people might want to invest in a new HD radio.
Simple as that.
Amen! Stations need to think "out of the box" a little and not think of themselves so much as an FM station but as a local media provider. 20 years ago, if I didn't like your rock station, chances are I had one similar station (at best) to switch to...and maybe several tapes or CD's. Now, I just switch my car stereo to "aux" and tune in any number of radio stations streaming online or just listen to my own music from my cell phone.
And I have a happy medium for all this: The FCC considers HD to be mandatory on all full-fledged FM stations (class A voluntary, B and C classes mandatory)...by...well...we'll say 2022. This gives stations sitting on the bench 12 years to have a transmitter failure, move-in, or simply save money up to buy a HD transmitter. It gives the INDUSTRY AND STATIONS years to promote the switch and drill it in consumer's heads. Companies can have 90% recognition of a product in 12 months...we're giving them 12 years!!!!! If they can't pull this off, the consumers obviously don't give a damn!
FCC also makes HD a required component in all FM radios by 2016. Gives the public 6 years to buy a radio...no coupons, no converters needed. HD power gets bumped up then as well to basically 15% of analog signal...giving all HD stations roughly about the same signal as the analog. DXers and LPFM operators may have a cow due to the adjacent channel buzz near the station, but this is "serving the public interest", y'know? Speaking of, 2020 would be the year Ibiquity would stop collecting royalties on stations and this prevents a virtual monopoly on HD radio technology.
By 2021, we cut down analog power to 25% of current power which would cut the analog coverage to about 1/3 of its current area...factoring in nearby IBUZZ. If it can without interference, stations may bump up HD to 20% of original analog power giving a superior signal to the analog.
In 2022, we give stations one of two options: Either keep the analog at its current power levels, or eliminate it and use the extra space for HD-5,6,7,etc. As the firmware-upgradeable radios come into play, some of these can be "premium" pay channels...and I could see someone like CC setting up a nationwide talk network or news, ESPN Radio, etc. Eliminating the analog on half these stations could easily put 60-70 "CD quality" radio stations in a medium or small-ish market. This gives AM's, translators, colleges, and the LPFM's the option of being heard on a much better signal as well!
I'm only a wannabe engineer, so the specs may not work too well, but it beats the current FM standard which will go the way of the newspaper and AM radio by then...guaranteed.
Also note that I consider myself to be a pretty hard-core libertarian. But if the FCC is going to do more than regulate interference, they may as well have a respectable broadcast band plan in place to boot.
Radio-X
.