> Today's announcement says Birmingham will be one of the
> first markets to hear the new HD 2 formats. Anybody hearing
> any buzz from outside the industry? Does anybody else even
> know what's about to happen? Do they care? Can we get them
> to care?
>
I remember saying back in late 90's when satellite radio came out...I will never own one of those things, who would want to pay for radio? Well, I have an XM receiver in my car now. Times change. As things stand right now...satellite radio is pretty much grown as a revolt against corporate radio stations and an over abundance of advertising that people endure in all steps of their lives. Advertising is of course a necessity for any land based radio station, but some stations live and breathe commercials to the point where listeners simple turn them off.
Why would people at this point invest more of their personal funds into an HD receiver? They won't. So being first to have the new HD 2 format doesn't mean too much for most people. It is great that stations are investing into the new HD Radio technologies but no one will see a payoff for at least 5 to 10 years.
Heck, have the satellite companies even made money yet? There are at least 9 million listeners to it now...about 3% of the US population and it hasn't broken even.
For HD radio to succeed, it is going to have to become an option on all new vehicles radios like XM and Sirius have become. There is also going to have to be an affordable after market add on like the XM Roady 2 for 29 bucks. And last and most important, there has to be compelling programs and information that the listener feels will be beneficial and entertaining on these new bands.
There will have to be more than just syndicated news channels and endless loops of traffic and weather.
A station group could run decade channels on their extra bands, one for 50's, one for 60's, etc. NPR could run their talk programs on one band, and nothing but classical music on the other. A Christian station could run Christian Rock on the other band. Aka. Original Programming that fits a niche market.
Now this begs another question...the almighty dollar. We all know that most advertisers are committed to one dollar amount for their annual budget...what happens when you double the amount of station signals in a market? The almighty dollar gets split again, same money, more places to spend it. Can radio stations, already pinching pennies, afford more competition? That part is way down the road, but its coming.
<P ID="signature">______________
Brian
www.montgomerytvandradio.com</P>
