GEORGE IS ON A ROLL!

[hipporadio]

Much of what is posted here is just plain lunatic rhetoric posted by those who enjoy allowing their true inner child to shine through... Great intellectual statements like...

Iniquity... Buzz Saw... Destructive... Defective... The list is nearly endless. It's funny.

Being nearly-equal in the “smart-a** department” with myself – you can do much-better than that, clouseu... But I’ll “take the bait” anyway...

Of the terms you cite as “great intellectual statements” [odd, given your penchant for sarcasm] – I’ll happily-justify use of the FOUR “borrowed” by me here [none are Hipp-Originals]...

“Defective” and “Destructive”: Do we really need to retrace that route again? Grab your very-thinnest shirt-pocket dictionary [over in the grade-school necessity section at Walgreen’s] and the appropriate use thereof becomes “crystal” – ‘nuff said!

“Buzz Saw”: I entered this fun little venue about a year-ago. WELL-BEFORE that, the B-word was an industry-wide anecdote for IBOC interference AND had become prominent among the “lay” in the consumer electronics-purchasing public as a similar description. How would these non-technical types discussing this phenomena in a non-broadcast forum describe such? ...”That pink noise with coincidental bi-polar reoccurring harmonics centered 12.772 kHz above-and-below the FCC-licensed carrier frequency”... COME ON! The uninitiated usually perceives IBOC “hash” as the noise made by an ultra-high-speed FSK analog modem—A “BUZZ”. The conjugation of “SAW” is simply a matter of routine sentence construction where a noun used in first-person is made pro-active when preceded by a preposition – it’s an elementary English comp thing. What about this sixth-grade tutorial are you failing to “get” at your age, clouseu? Even-more humorously-shocking is: despite its established vernacular in the public, use of the B-word has found its way onto [of all places] iNiquity’s consumer “HD” Radio website... Gaze at the upper-left and grin at the headline chosen by the marketing geniuses at iNiquity—“WHAT’S THE BUZZ?”

Finally – and my personal favorite. Iniquity = "lack of righteousness or justice"... If the shoe fits [and it does] – wear it [and they do]. Frankly, the single-letter first-cap alteration that changes its “techno-hip” corporate name into “iNiquity” is just “too good” [and appropriate] to pass-up! At the time this Chucky-Doll was born and needing a name – anyone with foresight should have seen this one coming... Yet ANOTHER iBiquity blunder – see, I spelled it right [this time] – but only ‘cause the Bs flow nicely

...Outside of Mr Savage none of his fellow IBOC detractors has explained in plain English how they personally have come to the conclusions they have or why they feel IBOC will have an impact on their ability to make a living... Sadly, their insecurities and obvious anger have made them unsympathetic to those of us who truly don't have a horse in this race but are being pegged as pro IBOC just because we don't take the same angry stance which they do.

After examining several-dozen of my prior posts here, I can’t find one that fails to engage “plain English” – although it may at times be eloquent to a degree that intimidates the less-eloquent – I’ll guess that’s the offspring of nearly-thirty-years of commercial and report composition and now a career in the marketing industry.

I have repeatedly-stated that “engineering” was NOT my vocation [suffice to say I have a heightened understanding of and appreciation for it given my “lay” status]. Regardless of my failure to invoke the art of “techno-speak”, these contributions come from the mind of “a listener” and former radio industry member [twenty-plus years] with a sales/management background and marketing discipline/expertise. I’m typically unmoved by those “buzz-words” [pardon the pun] that merely attempt to baffle one into accepting a bad idea! The current flavor of digital radio will be judged by the lay-dominated MARKETPLACE – not the latest dose of Engineereze from iNiquity’s $100k Fantasy Van I admit to being a more-tenacious critic of “big corporate radio” than some silly modulation scheme [but BOTH appear to be one-in-the-same]... Still, I have NO “horse in the HD dash”, but become offended when my many-years of effort to acquire QUALITY radios are rendered in-vain when some selfish, meagerly-accountable, and femininely-regulated entity attempts to enrich itself-only by “breaking” my radios to invent some misadventure-disguised-as-a-product that the marketplace has ZERO interest in.

Again, I challenge the IBOC apologists to find but ONE POST where I have aggressively-criticized “HD” on the FM side – other than to point out its VERY-obvious problem with analog-equivalent propagation and near-field penetration. I am NO FAN of "HD" Radio on that band either, but it boils-down to a simple issue of surmising a reasonable marketing expectation. There are TOO many assumptions [bordering on pure fantasy] to logically-conclude ANY rational expectation for its success in the marketplace. Even in their second/third/fourth [?] generation, “HD”-equipped radios many-times DOUBLE the cost of a better-performing analog counterpart [i.e.]: the Sangean HDR-1 vs. the outstanding WR-2—superior at a price over $100 less provides the perfect example! Retailers have exhibited little-interest in “HD” Radio [and in reality – their interest is LESSENING]. I have first-hand knowledge of this; and can’t wait for Mr. Brusstar’s program featuring retailers and their “HD” Radio perception and customer experiences. Furthermore, “HD” is still “off the radar” of the mass-appeal automotive marketer with no foreseeable widespread debut in sight within radio’s most-valued venue. Finally, consider that early-adopters of emerging technology lopsidedly-reside within the teenage and twenty-something years. For the first-time since the end of “Fibber McGee & Molly”, radio has failed to generate and maintain “hip factor” with this age group – and those fortunes are failing—NOT rebounding. Furthermore, in my current profession, I suffer no shortage of convincing evidence that the effectiveness of radio [as a marketing vehicle] is fast-fading within the “hot-center” [those in their 30s and 40s]. It is not unfair to assume this is a demo-wide demonstration of the dissatisfaction with terrestrial radio in general and the programming philosophies of corporate radio specifically – there are simply too many options that are and will become even-more attractive to this vital age group. This bodes poorly for ANY form of digital radio—even one competently-engineered and properly marketed!

My modes' here is not to be purposely over-polite – rather reciprocally-respectful [grab a copy of Covey and read-yourself to self-enrichment]; but when a man fails to operate at his expected maturity level – sometimes another is forced to regard him accordingly.

...A new era for AM Radio is about to begin!

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...A new era error for AM Radio is about to begin!

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I forgot how quick whitted, if not redundant you can be...

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While you're indulging in the IBOC victory-dance, all alone in the end zone in that empty stadium, a suggestion:

If you're going to denigrate someone you should know how to spell your insult. "Quick-witted" is not spelled with an "H."

Thanks for the spelling lesson... I don't not believe my comments were aimed at you.
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Let me speculate that behind that Manhattan Island fascia of the corporate engineering pen-jockey lives a man who can’t wait to get to Times Square on New Years Eve... CUTE – but un-compelling... And who’s begging for “plain English”?

 

[R.F. Burns]

Did I mention you? Why are you bringing up my name? By the way;

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[clouseau]

Much of what is posted here is just plain lunatic rhetoric posted by those who enjoy allowing their true inner child to shine through... Great intellectual statements like...

Iniquity... Buzz Saw... Destructive... Defective... The list is nearly endless. It's funny.

Being nearly-equal in the “smart-a** department” with myself – you can do much-better than that, clouseu... But I’ll “take the bait” anyway...

It wasn't designed to be bait, but I see where you're coming from. Here's how I look at it.

Long ago I used to call them Uncle Charley or The Friendly Candy Company. As I moved out of my teens and into life they became the FCC. In the last few years as my contact with their staff has grown , it's become "The Commission".

And while I started out with a job in radio, it's kind of interesting that it has evolved into working in "Broadcasting".

I have always felt (Perhaps erroniously) those who "Make up" their own language lose credibility.

On another front, the whole "Light Up the noise generators at night" thing makes me chuckle, too. Like somehow, something bizarre is going to happen at WOR. Their countdown clock is actually counting down to..... NOTHING. That is, Every night at sundown they currently Do something (Turn off HD). When the clock counts down to zero then they WON'T do anything. Assuming this is NOT the apocolypse, it truly could be The Mouse that Roared.

My guess is that neither of us has put our best Smart A** foot forward on this board.

Clouseau

 

[radioskeptic]

Hipporadio, I'm flattered that "iNiquity" is your favorite, because to the best of my knowledge, I invented it. If you search this entire message board, I think you'll find that I was the first to use it.

Nevertheless, the correct spelling of the company's real name is "Ibiquity," not "iBiquity." I used the non-standard spelling both to make the reference immediately recognizable and to emphasize the use of the "N." When not consciously satirizing something, I stick to the standard rules of orthography and capitalization whenever I have occasion to write about K. D. Lang, Bell Hooks or even the venerable E. E. Cummings. I don't care how these people write their own names, but I do consider dispensing with capitals -- or sticking them in the middle of a word, where they don't belong (except possibly after a hyphen) -- a childish affectation. (And yes, that goes for the I-Pod, too!)

 

[hipporadio]

Did I mention you? Why are you bringing up my name?

Must I remind you of your own quote... So soon?

...Outside of Mr Savage none of his fellow IBOC detractors has explained in plain English how they personally have come to the conclusions they have... Sadly, their insecurities and obvious anger have made them unsympathetic to those of us...

Because my name isn’t Savage and over half my posts here at R-I are on the HD Radio board; wouldn’t it be coincidental to consider that I may have been one of many whose “insecurities, anger, and failure in plain English” had attracted the unsympathetic wrath of the iNiquity minions? NO personal offense was intended and your name had little to do with it, but you were the author. I have no issues with professional security – I don’t work for the IBOC inventors, their corporate radio cohorts, or radio period. Any anger over an ill-fated modulation scheme is limited to my “broken radios”—made less-effective and nearly-obsolete by that trashy self-serving experiment in broadcasting. As for “plain English”; YOU asked a question, and you got an answer in one of my most-detailed and cogent submissions here to date – and your only response comes in the form of your crutch-like countdown clock. Interesting, given the offense you take by an alleged lack of substance from the other side of this issue!

By the way;

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Politics aside, recalling that famous quote from a dear and departed President... “Well there he goes again!” Well I have a fun idea that involves a studio-style clock – but this one COUNTS UP... to the sign-OFF of IBOC... An “HD Radio” dead-pool of sorts. Just predict the point at which the last IBOC-equipped station plays “The Star Spangled Banner” for the final performance of its defective and destructive iNiquity buzz-saw [YIKES – I sinned all FOUR TIMES in the same sentence!]

At this point, the final equity fund will have flushed their stake in iNiquity... The final corporate large-market station will have met the minimum IRS burden for advanced-schedule depreciation of the “HD” ‘puter... The final smaller-market lower-powered station will have returned their IBOC exciter under terms of the iNiquity 30-day money-back guarantee... The final retailer of “HD” radios having been long-gone; the lone remaining consumer electronics manufacturer [Chinese-made Coby] announces a move to the whole-house wireless doorbell-via-LAN product segment... AND – the FINAL used Boston Accousics “HD” Receptor has sold on eBay.

Coordinated Universal Time at the tone is...

09 - 12 - 2007 - 00:00:00:000

BEEP... Let the “Buzz-Saw Dead-Pool” begin!

...We interrupt this post for BREAKING NEWS. What's this that just arrived in the U. S. Mail? Why - it's the latest Crutchfield catalog! You guys know: the leading mail-order electronics retailer! 36 pages packed with the latest/greatest in consumer electronics... Well, let's see how many HD radios, home or car, are featured!

Well, it appears the answer is... NONE, Nada, zip.

Wait - correction - out of four pages of various models of car audio... there is ONE forlorn in-dash “HD” tuner, JVC's HD-HDR1... I'll concede... this one lonely device is HD capable... a sorry showing for such a frantically-promoted system.

Mine arrived today, also... And you’re correct – ONE orphan “HD”-capable radio [the JVC mobile receiver] in this major [new product intro] fall catalog. Recall my prior post were I observed that retail enthusiasm for “HD” Radio appears to be waning after a half-pint of initial token support. This appears to be the case with the venerable Crutchfield; and NOT for a lack of products [IF you believe the proclamations of the “HD Cartel”]. I’ve seen the JVC “HD” unit at ONLY ONE retail location—a metro-area WalMart... Although “powered” and feeding speakers – NO ANTENNA was connected. I inquired about this predicament to a cheerful Wally World associate who explained: “Most people who buy this play CDs in the car more than the radio... It even plays CDs that you make at home on your computer... That’s really neat.” : “Neat-O” – so long as you’re not employed in the so-called “Marketing Department” at iNiquity!

Now consider the C Crane Company, who launched and built its business at the behest of the AM radio-enthusiast market. Mr. Crane is selective about the radios offered; candid [in print] about their value and performance; and has a very-close relationship with Sangean [who manufactures several products that carry the C Crane name]. One would expect the mere introduction of the HDT-1 to grace the good Mr. Crane with a “Big-O” on par with that of a hormone-raged 20-year-old Instead...

After a field trip to test the Sangean HDT-1 in “HD”-rich Los Angeles as a part of its customary pre-marketing product evaluation – Crane is surprisingly-blunt about the poor AM potential of “HD” in general AND that tuner’s dismal AM performance in particular:

”AM HD reception was poor no matter what [same as with all the HD radios we've tested] - though it did pick up one HD AM station with a strong signal [710]. It should be noted that the HDT-1 picks up all the same AM Analog stations as the Sonido Radio.”

Thanks for small favors, but the Sonido Radio retails for about $150 less than the HDT-1!

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/hd-radio/sangean-hdt-1-hd-radio-component-tuner.aspx

My job provides me with the opportunity to share-orbit with a few consumer electronics retailers... NONE are enthusiastic about “HD Radio”; and their commitment to “floor-plan” it is minimal at best – but more-likely, non-existent. Their retort remains the same: “It works poorly – offers little – and my customers aren’t going to spend those dollars on that passé [terrestrial] radio.” One, a Midwest 10-store operation in business bucking the “big-box” trend successfully for over 20-years, recently passed-along an outrageous “HD” product story to me. He is an Alpine mobile-sound dealer. That brand is universally-considered “premiere”, and is sold within a select dealer network at a premium [and “protected”] price. Alpine’s ’07 auto receiver line [released in August ‘06] featured three “HD Ready” models within a $200-500 price range. “HD Ready” called-for the addition of a separate “HD Tuner” module – at that time retailing for $250 [now available for about $200]. This add-on interfaced via an accessory buss, and literally-replaced the tuner in the dash-mounted receiver – ANALOG demod and all. “HD” reception was generally considered poor, but was the very-least-significant affliction designed-into this product line. Imagine spending MORE to add “HD Radio” than the head-end cost in-total – THEN learning the duo was incapable of receiving HD-2 and 3 services A TRUE STORY that lived for nearly a full year until Alpine “got-around” to revising the interface in their Q-3 ’07 product release. This can only be explained by a manufacturer’s attitude that “HD Radio” rates little [if any] importance with regard to their product line feature set.

I hope Mr. Brusstar is taking notes from this discussion for his upcoming “Radio Racket” feature on “HD” in the retail marketplace... The stories are many... And many are a sad commentary indeed!

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Nevertheless, the correct spelling of the company's real name is "Ibiquity," not "iBiquity."

Nevertheless, you are wrong. See the copyright notice at the bottom of:

http://www.ibiquity.com/

 

[hipporadio]

“Savage the Racketeer”

From the Philly board...

We will definitely be talking about WYSP this week... September 14th is the date that stations are now allowed to run IBOC at night... In the Midnight hour, we are going to be joined by Rochester, NY station owner Bob Savage. Bob owns WYSL and is very outspoken of his dislike for IBOC...

I can’t imagine anything on over two-hundred channels of DirecTV worth giving this one up for

May I suggest a panel: Mr. Savage and tag-team partner, SUPERCASTER... In the other corner, Mr. Ed [with all the latest pro-IBOC Arbitron PPM data] and R.F. Burns [to confront Savvy ‘n SOUP with questions they cogently-answered a minute earlier]... And George, PLEASE “un-ban” Paul B. Walker from “The Racket” so he can “ref” this Shindig—no-one comes better-stocked with all the call-letter ‘n freq trivia that may come up

 

[calstymes]

My personal favorite would be to pit Savage against R.F. Burns. Now that would be great (HD) radio!

 

[Kyle D]

Any and all comers are more than welcome to call into the show tonight.

Hope to see you all at 10pm!

 

[SUPERCASTER]

Any and all comers are more than welcome to call into the show tonight.

Hope to see you all at 10pm!

Thanks for a nice show, www.radioracket.com

 

[hipporadio]

Thanks for a nice show, www.radioracket.com

I have been a casual [usually twice/month] listener of “The Radio Racket” for ten months, and have become accustomed to the flow and demeanor of that program. Its hosts are unapologetically-critical of “HD Radio”, BUT show a commendable tolerance toward all callers regardless of their “stripes” – even some who are less-than-respectful and downright-disorganized in their thoughts. I was looking forward to last Friday evening’s “post-apocalypse” program on IBOC, and was excited to hear that Bob Savage was scheduled as a guest. Mr. Savage is a welcome addition to the sometimes-incestuous nature of this board – and his appearance on The Racket well-exceeded my expectations! If I were coaching the debate team charged with the emasculation of “HD Radio”; Bob would be a first-round draft pick! His thoughts were from a solidly-PROFESSIONAL perspective; well-organized; and perfectly-focused – furthermore, his cagey CONFIDENCE and wit are a sheer delight to experience... NOTE: I DID NOT say “ARROGANCE”—often, of the resume-comparing nature demonstrated by most within the army “HD” minions.

I couldn’t have imagined Mr. Brusstar’s failure to genuinely-appreciate a cogent follow-up from the opposite perspective; and his wish for competent balance was granted by the appearance of The Good Inspector [clouseau], who patiently-waited over a half-hour on-hold for his opportunity. Frankly, many of those feebly-apologetic toward IBOC here would be well-served to just recline, kick their computer keyboard trays back under the desk, and allow HIM to carry their torch! His contribution to that discussion goes without question... He made a relevant and spirited-but polite attempt to turn the proverbial “porker’s ear into a high-fashion purse” – albeit cloaked in some degree of head-scratching mystery [the “handle” is clouseau though]. His background, current challenges within the industry, and root demeanor do not necessarily jive with that corporately-inspired and shamelessly-self-promoting modulation misadventure known as IBOC. WHY would a man dedicated to the service of a “graveyard AM station” owner—fighting to fend-off the clutches of big corporate radio, come to the defense of its stepchild and obvious miscalculation... All of this seems a bit intriguing to me.

I’ve painfully-endured several evenings of ‘round-the-clock IBOC on radios of unquestionable character. The dimmer pot isn’t even past ten o’clock toward maximum; and that “AF/RF sewer” [a.k.a. the AM band] is noticeably-smellier :'( At what point does the public demonstrate their ultimate disregard... And what are they giving up - stunning 20kbps MONO audio on par with circa 1998 RealAudio v3.0 via an AOL dial-up? : I’ll choose the pleasing mid-bandwidth ANALOG-demodulated audio form my $120 Tivoli “Kloss” table radio; my gorgeous $140 Sangean WR-2; my Denon TU-660 home-component A-MAX tuner; and even my 1981 original GE SuperRadio over the digital offering of that constipated and chorus-assisted codec.

Technical Hokey-Pokey aside; I can confidently report to you that “HD Radio” in its current iBiquity-flavor, has NO RATIONAL EXPECTATION TO SUCCEDE in the marketplace... GAME OVER... Sorry, but FOUR “Big Rollouts” are more than sufficient given a market within reasonable approach. Ironic [and humorous] is that this so-called “patience” is the penchant of an industry famous for exhibiting downright IMPATIENCE when confronted with a sluggish new format, morning show, or sales manager... So WHY this out-of-character patience with a silly ill-fated modulation scheme? The operative word here ISN’T “patience” – I’d suggest: it’s high-stakes desperation and the prerequisite obstinacy needed to hedge a badly-misplaced bet. How else could you justify the copious Kool-Aide consumption, “religious experience”, and irrational stubbornness of the technical-types who remain myopic to its fatal limitations...? And what of the anti-social “professional” behavior by those [engineers] usually-considered to be the most-affable within a contentious industry?

WHY does corporate radio insist on its continued intimacy with this albatross, and why would a vocation-loving, professionally-persistent, and otherwise-rational Inspector Clouseau award “a pass” to the mad scientists in Maryland? The picture is coming into focus... STAY-TUNED!

 

[Radioman100]

Technical Hokey-Pokey aside; I can confidently report to you that “HD Radio” in its current iBiquity-flavor, has NO RATIONAL EXPECTATION TO SUCCEDE in the marketplace... GAME OVER... Sorry, but FOUR “Big Rollouts” are more than sufficient given a market within reasonable approach. Ironic [and humorous] is that this so-called “patience” is the penchant of an industry famous for exhibiting downright IMPATIENCE when confronted with a sluggish new format, morning show, or sales manager... So WHY this out-of-character patience with a silly ill-fated modulation scheme? The operative word here ISN’T “patience” – I’d suggest: it’s high-stakes desperation and the prerequisite obstinacy needed to hedge a badly-misplaced bet. How else could you justify the copious Kool-Aide consumption, “religious experience”, and irrational stubbornness of the technical-types who remain myopic to its fatal limitations...? And what of the anti-social “professional” behavior by those [engineers] usually-considered to be the most-affable within a contentious industry?

WHY does corporate radio insist on its continued intimacy with this albatross, and why would a vocation-loving, professionally-persistent, and otherwise-rational Inspector Clouseau award “a pass” to the mad scientists in Maryland? The picture is coming into focus... STAY-TUNED!

I wouldn't say the game is over at all. The game hasn't even started yet and won't start until a major automaker starts including HD Radio as a standard feature.

Will that ever happen? Who knows. I believe if one of the five biggest automakers were to make it a standard feature, the others would follow suit. Perhaps the multi-million dollar promotional inventory blitz should be converted instead into a multi-million dollar promotional bribe for the first automaker to make HD standard. Ford could surely benefit from the exposure right now, as could GM.

 

[Kyle D]

I wouldn't say the game is over at all. The game hasn't even started yet and won't start until a major automaker starts including HD Radio as a standard feature.

Will that ever happen? Who knows. I believe if one of the five biggest automakers were to make it a standard feature, the others would follow suit. Perhaps the multi-million dollar promotional inventory blitz should be converted instead into a multi-million dollar promotional bribe for the first automaker to make HD standard. Ford could surely benefit from the exposure right now, as could GM.

Wow. I think I've read it all now.

The LAST THING any American automaker needs is to tie itself to HD Radio. In fact, I'd say that since none of them has to this point speaks volumes.

Regardless of what the HD Radio Alliance wants you to believe, it is VERY clear that the American public isn't interested in HD Radio. How long have these things been on the shelves now?

We took a call on our show last night from one of our regular listeners, who happens to have a HD receiver. He lives 30 miles outside of Chicago and said that HD signal coverage is spotty at best...and guess what? He has a roof antennae set up!! How many "non-radio geeks" are going to go thru the trouble of hooking up an antennae system?? Zero.

And you want an American automaker to make this piece of "technology" standard. I can hear the ad slogan now...

"Hear the stations between the stations! The 2008 Chevy Impala comes standard with a HD radio receiver, and as long as you live within 30 miles of a major metropolitan area you'll be able to pick up a whole 8-10 more channels programmed by the same people who can't program their main channels that are driving you away from the regualr AM & FM bands in the first place! And guess what??? You get this priviledge for the mere addition of $500 to the sticker price!"

Yup, just what Chevy or Ford needs...

 

[Radioman100]

I wouldn't say the game is over at all. The game hasn't even started yet and won't start until a major automaker starts including HD Radio as a standard feature.

Will that ever happen? Who knows. I believe if one of the five biggest automakers were to make it a standard feature, the others would follow suit. Perhaps the multi-million dollar promotional inventory blitz should be converted instead into a multi-million dollar promotional bribe for the first automaker to make HD standard. Ford could surely benefit from the exposure right now, as could GM.

Wow. I think I've read it all now.

The LAST THING any American automaker needs is to tie itself to HD Radio. In fact, I'd say that since none of them has to this point speaks volumes.

Regardless of what the HD Radio Alliance wants you to believe, it is VERY clear that the American public isn't interested in HD Radio. How long have these things been on the shelves now?

We took a call on our show last night from one of our regular listeners, who happens to have a HD receiver. He lives 30 miles outside of Chicago and said that HD signal coverage is spotty at best...and guess what? He has a roof antennae set up!! How many "non-radio geeks" are going to go thru the trouble of hooking up an antennae system?? Zero.

And you want an American automaker to make this piece of "technology" standard. I can hear the ad slogan now...

"Hear the stations between the stations! The 2008 Chevy Impala comes standard with a HD radio receiver, and as long as you live within 30 miles of a major metropolitan area you'll be able to pick up a whole 8-10 more channels programmed by the same people who can't program their main channels that are driving you away from the regualr AM & FM bands in the first place! And guess what??? You get this priviledge for the mere addition of $500 to the sticker price!"

Yup, just what Chevy or Ford needs...

Obviously our experiences with HD Radio are very different. In car especially, my experience with HD Radio has been nothing short of awesome.

What Chevy or Ford needs is marketing. What the HD alliance needs is HD radio as a standard feature in new cars. Looks like a win-win to me.

The only thing keeping HD out of new cars is money. The automakers, like the recording industry see dollars to be made from radio. Thank the satellite radio guys for the idea of paid inclusion. As soon as radio pays them to put HD radios in cars, it will happen.

This would be one way radio could do it rather painlessly.

 

[hipporadio]

The only thing keeping HD out of new cars is money... As soon as radio pays them to put HD radios in cars, it will happen.

THEY CAN’T! They’ve been TOO many years on an FCC and FTC-unsupervised spending spree – tossing cash around like one intoxicated with the game and “comp favors” waiting in the frequent-player suite at a casino hotel... Rediscovering the rationale gleamed from their Creative Business Stat 501 class in MBA School to “justify” a $100,000,000.00 sticker for some major-market “stinker” worth ONE-THIRD that price – all in the name of a fully-consummated “cluster”.

At the risk of leveraging their final straw with the equity-fund boys, I doubt that corporate radio is in ANY position to buy their way into a Ford Bronco... BTW, those Wall Street lads are getting “lukewarm” on Lowry and the Dickey clan—who are dashing for even-more “creative cash” to reclaim their “paper”. HISTORY LESSON: “paper” is only worth what’s behind it – reference The Confederacy or [pardon me] Enron... And I just recalled those bright orange jump-suites modeled by the iNiquity mascots

 

[Radioman100]

THEY CAN’T! They’ve been TOO many years on an FCC and FTC-unsupervised spending spree – tossing cash around like one intoxicated with the game and “comp favors” waiting in the frequent-player suite at a casino hotel... Rediscovering the rationale gleamed from their Creative Business Stat 501 class in MBA School to “justify” a $100,000,000.00 sticker for some major-market “stinker” worth ONE-THIRD that price – all in the name of a fully-consummated “cluster”.

Uhhh, yes they can, exactly as I have suggested.

I'm not saying they should pay them in cash money, rather in advertising trade. Imagine the impact the entire $250,000,000 annual HD marketing campaign would have if given to one automaker to use however they see fit. Get the radios into cars, people start using the radios, word of mouth does the rest and word of mouth is the very best advertising.

The current HD marketing campaign isn't working because the people programming the stations don't want it to. Any campaign that promotes nebulous "stations between the stations" is doomed to fail. You have to have a unique selling proposition for any ad campaign to be truly effective and HD Radio's campaign on most stations just doesn't have one.

Which do you think would work better, a campaign that promises "stations between the stations" or a country station promising non-stop classic country on its HD2? Classic country fans might see a benefit in that marketing unique enough to get them to buy a radio. Some billboards promoting the country format on WKTU's HD2 might help sell it. The reason you haven't seen any of this is the people charged with programming and generating revenue from the current channels have zero desire to compete with themselves, thus we have an extremely ineffective marketing campaign. The only reason there is lack of interest is radio has set itself up to fail. People want specifics, not glittering generalities. They want to know exactly what a product can do for them.

I don't see the marketing campaign changing. Like I said, the people charged with creating success with the current analog channels don't want the competition. The campaign is so neutered that it's totally ineffective. It has no USP. It's a waste of time. That's why I think the airtime that stations in the alliance have committed to the campaign should be dangled like a carrot in front of the automakers. If radio won't promote HD properly, get it into cars and let word of mouth do the rest.

 

[Play Freebird]

Wow. I think I've read it all now.
The LAST THING any American automaker needs is to tie itself to HD Radio. In fact, I'd say that since none of them has to this point speaks volumes.

My sentiments exactly. iBiquity (and their predecessors) have been pitching the system to Detroit for years, but the auto manufacturers still haven't justified the added expense of including the HD chipset in factory-installed receivers.... not to mention, they get better incentives from XM and Sirius to include satellite capability. Until we see a much larger percentage of registered vehicles with digital receivers, let's not get our hopes up about phasing out the analog signal.

Another problem is that iBiquity has kept their technology so "closed" in this age of interconnectivity. There are many ways to use the ancillary data capability of an FM HD signal, but no open invitations have been offered to station-level engineers to suggest creative new applications.

If I were designing an HD car radio, I would link the digital decoder with a Bluetooth chip, so that useful information could be transferred from the station's data stream to a PDA, mobile phone, iPod, or on-dash GPS. For example, if a McDonald's commercial aired, a soccer-mom driving the kids home from the game in her Ford Exploder could push a button on the radio and have the nearest locations displayed on the GPS, and an "electronic coupon" sent to the mobile device, which she would present at the counter for a discount.

However, Bluetooth might also allow an iPod to play music through the radio's amplifier, so that idea would probably be killed by one of the "suits" who mistakenly believes the terrestrial broadcast industry still controls in-car listening. Therefore, the iPods will continue to rely on those horrible over-the-limit "Part 15" FM modulators, providing the NAB a few more years to justify their existence.

 

[hipporadio]

The current HD marketing campaign isn't working because the people programming the stations don't want it to. Any campaign that promotes nebulous "stations between the stations" is doomed to fail. You have to have a unique selling proposition for any ad campaign to be truly effective and HD Radio's campaign on most stations just doesn't have one.

Like I said, the people charged with creating success with the current analog channels don't want the competition. The campaign is so neutered that it's totally ineffective...

VERY-GOOD post, Radioman – and true! I think you have “nailed” the utter-irony behind “HD Radio’s” symbiotic relationship with large corporate radio. WHY IS this so-called “HD marketing effort” SOOO anemic given that discipline’s alleged position on the resume of the radio industry? I’ve been developing a thesis on this intriguing paradigm, and you have pre-empted me to some degree.

YES, the nature of this “All in the Family” relationship between “HD Radio” and its corporate accomplices goes beyond the popular contention that the flaws of IBOC became tolerable to THEM so long as those deficiencies limited the implementation [and “benefits”] to ONLY the very-well-healed – members of THEIR fraternity so to speak... Oh this is part of the plan, mind-you; and the “compete with yourself” component is present also – UNTIL corporate radio rises to the level of its most-surreptitious modes’ and grows the cahoonas to begin CHARGING your credit card for the privilege of listening. IMO, that strategy is more-flawed and less-rational than IBOC itself; but don’t believe for a micro-second that it ISN’T being pondered! In the meantime, the corporate radio/iNiquity conjugation is content to “shift dollars between rooms” and make money from itself.

 

[clouseau]

THEY CAN’T! They’ve been TOO many years on an FCC and FTC-unsupervised spending spree – tossing cash around like one intoxicated with the game and “comp favors” waiting in the frequent-player suite at a casino hotel... Rediscovering the rationale gleamed from their Creative Business Stat 501 class in MBA School to “justify” a $100,000,000.00 sticker for some major-market “stinker” worth ONE-THIRD that price – all in the name of a fully-consummated “cluster”.

You make what appears to be a valid point- if you think like radio in the 80's. But it's 2007. According to this....

http://www.clearchannel.com/Investors/Documents/282.pdf

Clear Channel alone made over $197,000,000 after taxes and interest in Q2. That's after EVERYTHING. If reduces down to about $2,100,000.00 a day. So while they are fairly well leveraged (Almost 9 BILLION) they are apparenlty fairly well able to handle it, colorful Las Vegas comp suite references aside.

Many of us were taught this wasn't the way to do business. And WE think they did overpay when they bought up the stations. However, if you overpay and make it work then I think you have to admit that maybe they DIDN'T overpay.

The idea that all the cost savings of consolidation were going to generate better radio was BS. But let's also not forget that there were a lot of Mom and Pops who are now "On the beach" on Lowrey May's Nickel. How many of them had a conscience attack when they were offered 3-4 times what they thought their stations were worth? Clear Channel, et al is not the only enemy here.

At the risk of leveraging their final straw with the equity-fund boys, I doubt that corporate radio is in ANY position to buy their way into a Ford Bronco... BTW, those Wall Street lads are getting “lukewarm” on Lowry and the Dickey clan—who are dashing for even-more “creative cash” to reclaim their “paper”. HISTORY LESSON: “paper” is only worth what’s behind it – reference The Confederacy or [pardon me] Enron... And I just recalled those bright orange jump-suites modeled by the iNiquity mascots

Look I think anyone would agree that the marketing of HD has been less than stellar. However HERE'S a thought and a calculation.

IIRC, Chrysler makes about 1 million cars a year. That's from a factoid a long time ago (Iacocca's book I think). Now I'm not a math major but follow this (Which MAY be full of holes.)

Clear Channel decides it wants to have HD radio in cars, so it picks CHRYSLER as the Guinea Pig. The Plan? HD in every car. $300 ADDITIONAL per car. Consumer gets it for free. Chrysler get's the upgrade for free. CCU Pays.

$300,000,000 cost for the year. CCU makes $600,000,000 a year AFTER Taxes and interest. While ugly, it could work.

Fallout of this.
1) HD mass production starts. Big time. Fact is - a $300 upsell probably buys 6 radios after the deal. Maybe a LOT more.

2) If HD HAS the horsepower to make it work then other automakers will want to get on board. Customers will at casually desire it.

3) Rentals generate exposure, balh blah blah. Customers experience it... etc...

Of course I'm just a doof who runs a small station. What do I know.

How about it Lowery? Get Red and Pete on Board!

Clouseau

 

[Play Freebird]

I couldn’t have imagined Mr. Brusstar’s failure to genuinely-appreciate a cogent follow-up from the opposite perspective; and his wish for competent balance was granted by the appearance of The Good Inspector [clouseau], who patiently-waited over a half-hour on-hold for his opportunity. Frankly, many of those feebly-apologetic toward IBOC here would be well-served to just recline, kick their computer keyboard trays back under the desk, and allow HIM to carry their torch! His contribution to that discussion goes without question... He made a relevant and spirited-but polite attempt to turn the proverbial “porker’s ear into a high-fashion purse” – albeit cloaked in some degree of head-scratching mystery [the “handle” is clouseau though]. His background, current challenges within the industry, and root demeanor do not necessarily jive with that corporately-inspired and shamelessly-self-promoting modulation misadventure known as IBOC. WHY would a man dedicated to the service of a “graveyard AM station” owner—fighting to fend-off the clutches of big corporate radio, come to the defense of its stepchild and obvious miscalculation... All of this seems a bit intriguing to me.

I caught the "Racket" on Friday and enjoyed the discussion-- great job, George and Kyle.

Clouseau came across to me as a decent, sincere, trusting kind of guy who truly believes that AM HD will eventually help his station to succeed. I think this is human nature; we want to be optimistic and believe what people tell us, until proven wrong. Dr. Brinkley succeeded in selling countless goat gland treatments for this very reason. (I'll resist the urge to turn the discussion towards our current administration in Washington.) However, I learned years ago that "if something sounds too good too be true, it probably is", which explains why the 419 scams that appear in my inbox each day immediately get the delete key.

"HD Radio" was presented as a fix for nearly all of AM's shortcomings, but in practice, the system falls way short of the hype, largely because there's not enough RF bandwidth available in those sidebands to offer adequate noise immunity in a real-world listening environment filled with noisy power lines, lightning, and RFI from computers, CRTs, florescent lights, etc. So, in situations where the received AM analog signal becomes noisy enough to become objectionable and the digital signal could make a difference, it simply craps out.

Further, IBOC has the potential to cause significant interference to adjacent-channel stations, and if you weight the "pros" vs. the "cons", the balance tips the wrong way. Bob Savage (drawing upon his legal education and many years of experience in the business) did an excellent job of presenting this argument. If HD AM actually performed as promised and didn't threaten to reduce his coverage area and revenue, why would he oppose it?

The IBOC promoters really began to lose credibility with me when they made the bogus claim that AM must go digital because electronic component manufacturers will soon stop producing analog products; they tried to tell me "The chips are all gonna be purely digital and we'll lose the ability to receive analog signals. So you need to stop kicking and fighting and bite the bullet!" This, of course, is nonsense; give a digital SDR "I and Q" with the proper firmware and it can decode anything!

By the way, I should mention that the Accurian HD is a nice-sounding analog AM receiver, provided that it's connected to a good antenna. I listened last night to 740 CHWO, using my K9AY loop in the "north" mode, and was quite impressed. WHAM in analog mode also sounded pretty good -- although during an hour's worth of listening, WHAM decoded in digital for only ten seconds. As soon as the "artificial high-end" artifacts kicked in, I knew it had acquired lock, but frankly, this did nothing to enhance the listening experience.