Ford Exec Writes Open Letter to Broadcasters...

[TheBigA]

Satellite radio is a niche product.

So is HD radio. If it was meant to be mainstream, the FCC would have mandated it. They haven't so it's an option, one for obviously a very very narrow group of people. Availability of HD in cars is far more selective than satellite, as I said in my post. Lots of Fords don't have HD. All have satellite. But unless you pay a monthly fee, your satellite device doesn't work. Yet Ford isn't complaining about that.

Did their letter mention anything about free and universal wifi?

 

[KB1OKL]

I actually remember a time when radio was fun to listen too. It's not fun to listen to anymore, at least on the music side. It's too predictable, their are very few personalities.

I think you hit upon modern music radios' two biggest problems: boring and bland. I can remember a time when I couldn't wait to turn on the radio because my buddies were on the radio and were going to play cool tunes. In the 60's this would have been AM radio top 40 stations and during the 70's and early 80's this would have been an AOR FM. I was lucky to have one of the foremost underground and then later AOR FM's in the country during that period which was WBCN 104.1. Back then you felt like the DJ's were your friends and especially on FM radio in the 70's you never really knew what was going to be played next and never knew what the DJ would say next. Now on most stations you can predict what the next song will be. No amount of "channels between the channels" is going to help this. HD radio which does not work well and will never become a successful alternative to analog radio is just a distraction from the principal problem and that problem is that commercial music radio has for the most part become more boring than listening to elevator music.

 

[KB1OKL]

Satellite radio is a niche product.

So is HD radio.

Sorry, In my comparison I left out the fact that it is a fairly successful niche product at least for the time being and more importantly it actually works 99.9 % of the time. Where does that leave HD?

 

[TheBigA]

I think you hit upon modern music radios' two biggest problems: boring and bland.

But that's not true. There are lots of radio stations that don't play "elevator music," but they probably play music you don't like. I bet there are lots of radio stations on your dial that you've never listened to because they play music you don't like. Not because they're bland or boring.

Radio's problem, for you, is that you got older, and your taste in music didn't grow as you aged. Having been to Boston many times, I can tell you there are some stations that haven't changed a bit since the 60s. They're still playing the same music in the same way as they did then. But I doubt you'd ever listen.

Sorry, In my comparison I left out the fact that it is a fairly successful niche product at least for the time being and more importantly it actually works 99.9 % of the time. Where does that leave HD?

As I said, it's a smaller niche than satellite. But Sirius is still in financial trouble, and satellite radio suffers from many of the same problems that affect all digital broadcasting.

 

[KB1OKL]

I think you hit upon modern music radios' two biggest problems: boring and bland.

But that's not true. There are lots of radio stations that don't play "elevator music," but they probably play music you don't like. I bet there are lots of radio stations on your dial that you've never listened to because they play music you don't like. Not because they're bland or boring.

I think you missed my point, I said that modern commercial music radio is more boring than elevator music, when I listen to FM commercial radio I listen to classic rock.

Radio's problem, for you, is that you got older, and your taste in music didn't grow as you aged. Having been to Boston many times, I can tell you there are some stations that haven't changed a bit since the 60s. They're still playing the same music in the same way as they did then. But I doubt you'd ever listen.

My taste has changed a lot since the 70's, I listen to jazz and blues for the most part nowadays although I will occasionally listen to modern rock with as classic rock mix, but even those stations still play the same old tired 12 classic rock staples.

Sorry, In my comparison I left out the fact that it is a fairly successful niche product at least for the time being and more importantly it actually works 99.9 % of the time. Where does that leave HD?

As I said, it's a smaller niche than satellite. But Sirius is still in financial trouble, and satellite radio suffers from many of the same problems that affect all digital broadcasting.

 

[TheBigA]

I think you missed my point, I said that modern commercial music radio is more boring than elevator music, when I listen to FM commercial radio I listen to classic rock.

No, I got your point loud and clear. You don't like today's music. The music you used to like isn't being made any more. It has nothing to do with radio. There isn't a station in America that just plays "the same 12 songs." Classic rock stations have libraries with hundreds of songs. The problem is that the audience mainly likes a small number of those songs. And those radio stations play what listeners want to hear. That means Freebird and Stairway to Heaven. Ask any cover band what gets people on the dance floor. Ask any wedding DJ what gets people on the dance floor. It's the same small number of songs, over and over and over. It works. You don't mess with what works.

 

[Carmine5]

You can almost hear Bob Struble say to Jim Buczkowski, "I can't talk anymore to these holdout broadcasters. Here, you talk to them."

But as RBR observes, radio is a business and station brass will only make decisions, and rightly so, that will benefit the bottom line. Plus the, 'go digital because it's the right thing to do', argument has got to be the worst reason to convert to HDR. Ibiquity is not a charity--at least not yet.

I might mention that here in Los Angeles, KSWD does a feature in which they will play entire sides of LPs--and I do mean vinyl LPs. It's one of the most popular shows on KSWD. When will the HD Radio cheering section learn that listeners have no problem with analog. And it is truly a sweet experience to hear analog-on-analog--LPs broadcast on analog FM.

But doesn't KSWD broadcast HD signals? I wouldn't say it's 100% analog FM if that were the case.....

Since I don't own an HD Radio, what I'm hearing on KSWD is analog.

 

[mmnassour]

I think you missed my point, I said that modern commercial music radio is more boring than elevator music, when I listen to FM commercial radio I listen to classic rock.

No, I got your point loud and clear. You don't like today's music.

I'm going to question whether he's even talking about the music. Perhaps he's tired of voice-tracked jocks that have no connection to what he sees outside his window? And if he is talking about music, perhaps the playlists are too tight? Or perhaps there the three or four stations in the center of the dial don't have a hair's worth of difference in their formats?

Or perhaps...all three?

Radio is more than music....it's connecting with the listener. Everyone here knows that. The trouble is that connection with many of has been completely broken.

The letter from the Ford honcho simply demonstrates how lost corporate America is when it comes to broadcasting.

 

[TheBigA]

Radio is more than music....it's connecting with the listener. Everyone here knows that. The trouble is that connection with many of has been completely broken.

But once again, that's not completely true. Only in the case of a small number of stations. A large number are still live and local. Maybe not 24/7, but for large portions of their day. And there isn't much connection between voicetracking and ratings. However, one thing all programmers know is the larger the playlist, the smaller the audience.

Quite often, when I read these comments about voicetracking, I ask what stations the poster listens to. They're the ones with the voicetracking. Then I mention the other local stations that have local jocks, and the poster doesn't listen because he doesn't like the particular music. So it's not that the live jocks aren't there, but they aren't there for a particular format. If you listen to formats like oldies, urban, country, or CHR, it's likely that the air talent is live and local. Not everyone wants a connection with the person on the radio. They just want to hear their favorite music. The ratings prove it.

But the bottom line, getting back to this thread, is that no amount of local jocks or increased playlist size will get people to buy HD radios. That simply isn't enough of a motivation in today's media marketplace. In fact, playlist size or local talent won't get people to buy more AM/FM radios or satellite radios or any kinds of radios.

 

[mmnassour]

But the bottom line, getting back to this thread, is that no amount of local jocks or increased playlist size will get people to buy HD radios. That simply isn't enough of a motivation in today's media marketplace. In fact, playlist size or local talent won't get people to buy more AM/FM radios or satellite radios or any kinds of radios.

Completely agreed. Unless there is content on an HD channel that people want to hear, no one will buy the radios and no one will listen.

Maybe that's the problem with a lot of analog stations as well!

 

[TheBigA]

Unless there is content on an HD channel that people want to hear, no one will buy the radios and no one will listen.

No, you misread what I wrote. The content doesn't matter. People aren't buying new radios. Period.

If a device comes with a radio, like a car or a phone or a computer, they'll listen. But they aren't buying radio-only devices, and haven't been for a long time. In fact internet table radio sales are worse than HD radio sales. Why buy an internet radio when I can listen on my phone or computer?

 

[mmnassour]

OK, let's try this again..... ;D

1. No one will buy the radios. (OK, they're NOT buying now)

2. No one will listen. (I never said they had to have a radio, OK, I'll give you that it's easy to combine the two!)

The point is to get more people listening to the audio that is being put out. I don't care if they're using a radio, a computer, or a cat's whisker. Radio need ways to recover ears from iPods. The CRAP that's been put on the HD channels so far has done absolutely ZERO in that regard. Only NPR has had some limited success.

I've always felt that local content, even if you're playing the "Hits" (whatever that will be in the future), is the way to connect with listeners, to make them friends...who will listen to you again and again.

When I'm driving into work in the morning in my Ford (or whatever) I want to know where the traffic is bad and what's going on in town. After that, play a song. And I don't care what the electronics are that get this to me.

 

[TheBigA]

The CRAP that's been put on the HD channels so far has done absolutely ZERO in that regard.

The fact is (and we've done surveys about this) that it doesn't matter what you put on HD channels. You can put the absolute greatest content the world has ever heard, and it won't cause people to buy HD radios.

I've always felt that local content, even if you're playing the "Hits" (whatever that will be in the future), is the way to connect with listeners, to make them friends...who will listen to you again and again.

That's how YOU feel. Not everyone feels the same way. The music these stations play isn't locally made. Having someone local play the music won't change that fact.

To a lot of people (and I can show you their exact words written in the diaries) any talk is an interruption. They'd rather the person (local or otherwise) shut up. If they want information, there are lots of other places to get it, and they don't want some DJ who's old enough to be their parent to be their friend. However, if you can help them meet someone their age, that would be useful. (I'm not kidding...I've seen that in diaries too).

There's nothing local about internet radio, iPods, or satellite radio. Yet that's where the growth is. So localism isn't the attraction you think it is. People don't care where the DJ is. They don't want someone else picking their music or telling them what to like. Fix that, and people may come back to OTA radio.

 

[tomservo]

Regarding Ford, I rented a Ford last week. The model I got didn't have HD radio. But it DID have SiriusXM. I turned it on and guess what? It didn't work. Why? No subscription. If Ford is so concerned with its installed devices working, they should also complain about the concept of satellite radio. Because for lots of Ford owners, those satellite radio buttons don't work. Then again, I noticed a lot of blank buttons on my dashboard.

At least one of the car companies (Hertz? Avis?) can provide the satellite radio feature on a rental-by-rental basis. It's expensive, though… something like $10-13 for the duration of the rental. Not exactly a bargain. I don't know if they have a deal to actually activate each radio for short periods or just pull a car from the fleet that's always subscribed.

A good observation point about so many rentals having satellite tuners in them is that Sirius and XM spent years paying automakers to put the hardware in their radios. They subsidized those costs up to and including the free 3-month trial periods, as far as I know. iBiquity has probably not done that and most likely wouldn't have the money to pony up radios for all the cars any one major manufacturer makes in a year! Rentals are "strippers" with the bare bones standard feature set. HD is still considered a pricey radio upgrade feature or option like heated leather seats or a rear-view camera. It needs to move down to the standard options list (and be little to no cost to the car makers) to wind up on a rental.

Maybe if they really pushed the subsidy model they'd have more OEM success stories.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think HD radio CAN be a valuable addition, but it should come from the factory defaulted to 'off'. You won't turn on a fancy radio and immediately be able to choose between AM, FM, Sirius, HD and Pandora without paying/setting up a wireless access point/registering, because not everyone will have that ability. So why should HD come active by default when not many people can use the system properly in their towns?

In other words, make it a discoverable feature to be used by those who need it and left off for the majority who don't.

 

[RadeoEngineer]

Have we forgotten the simple but stark fact that Hybrid/Digital just plain doesn't work well in a mobile environment?

 

[hipporadio]

Have we forgotten the simple but stark fact that Hybrid/Digital just plain doesn't work well in a mobile environment?

"HD Radio" doesn't really "work" in ANY environment!

 

[hipporadio]

OOPS... For some strange reason, my prior post reproduced itself. SORRY. 'Kinda like IBOC taking up too much bandwidth. ;D

 

[SirRoxalot]

I think that the Ford Exec's real point is that people have gotten used to getting information about "what's playing", along with the music stream. He sees HD radio as a way to provide more information, purchase opportunities, etc.

What would be a better solution is a better version of RDS. I understand that Europe uses their data technology much more effectively.

 

[mmnassour]

The fact is (and we've done surveys about this) that it doesn't matter what you put on HD channels. You can put the absolute greatest content the world has ever heard, and it won't cause people to buy HD radios.


That's how YOU feel. Not everyone feels the same way. The music these stations play isn't locally made. Having someone local play the music won't change that fact.

To a lot of people (and I can show you their exact words written in the diaries) any talk is an interruption. They'd rather the person (local or otherwise) shut up. If they want information, there are lots of other places to get it, and they don't want some DJ who's old enough to be their parent to be their friend. However, if you can help them meet someone their age, that would be useful. (I'm not kidding...I've seen that in diaries too).

There's nothing local about internet radio, iPods, or satellite radio. Yet that's where the growth is. So localism isn't the attraction you think it is. People don't care where the DJ is. They don't want someone else picking their music or telling them what to like. Fix that, and people may come back to OTA radio.

This is what I HATE about message boards. If we were talking face to face, I really think we would agree more than is happening here.

I'm not talking about selling bloody, blasted radios! I'm talking about broadcasters getting their audio to the listener! My point is, and perhaps I'm not making it properly, that broadcasters with multiple streams need to program them with something that people want to hear. Yes, my own personal belief is that local programming works. I don't care how the audio gets to them, just get it to them!

"Local" doesn't have to mean music made by the kids in the garage next door. For that matter, it can be Coldplay and Conway Twitty, but introduced by an individual who knows what local listeners want and will occasionally give them information that's useful to them. Does that sound like an old-tyme disc jockey? If so, so be it. If they want NO talk at all, then they're not coming back to radio at all, they're gone at the first commercial break. Write those folks off.

Engage the audience. That's the future of broadcasting. If you don't you're just an iPod with music that the listener didn't ask to hear.

 

[Chuck]

In Europe, a lot of broadcasting is done through large networks of low powered FM transmitters. If you've ever driven through the Alps, you understand how hard it would be to cover every village with a decent signal from one point. RDS is primarily used to automatically switch your car radio to whichever frequency has the best signal. For instance, if you are a fan of "France Bleu", and are making a journey from Paris to Cannes, your radio will do the work of keeping it tuned in as you drive. It works quite well for them.

You'd be hard pressed to find a European car that isn't equipped with a RDS enabled radio. The fact that RDS can be used to provide lots of other information, including song title is secondary to them, but still quite important. It can also be use to deliver emergency information, advertising and just about anything you can put in a text message. In fact, they even use it to activate digital signage.

I'm disappointed that we don't take better advantage of RDS capabilities in the US.

I'm currently shopping for a new car for my wife. She wants something that is small and fuel efficient. I'm surprised about how many cars do not have RDS capability, even cars that you would consider "well equipped." It is usually included with the $4-5000 "Nav Package" but if you'd rather save your money and buy a $119 Garmin GPS at Target, then you will have to do without the RDS feature. That seems a shame, since RDS cost very little to implement on both the consumer and the broadcasters side of the equation.