HD in Rochester, N.Y. (for you, BOB)

[GreedMongers]

Came across some consumer comments concerning HD Radio in Rochester, N.Y:

"I wanted to post and ask how my neighbors in Rochester, NY are doing with their HD radios. I'm enjoying the stations, WCMF HD2 in particular, but there are seem to be a lot of dead spots well within the city limits. I take 490 in each day, and there are a lot of stretches where 95.1, 100.5, and 106.7 drop out completely. Anybody have experiences/opinions to share? Does anybody know about current or pending power increases in our area?"

"Im not anywhere near Rochester, but your experiences are typical. Some radio industry weenies are trying to push through a big power increase for all HD stations to solve this problem, but until that happens (and don't hold your breath), about all you can do is experiment with better antennas and signal boosters. The technology just doesn't work all that well in moving vehicles."

"Ive heard about the push for increased signal level, and I was thinking that it would be worth hanging on to my HD car receiver for that. I don't know, at this point all HD Radio gives me in the car is a headache/anxiety that I've spent so much on a HU and its constantly irritating me. The one thing I cannot stand is when you are in an area where the HD signal sort-of works, and it keeps switching in and out of HD. (Then my wife says that she likes the FACTORY radio in her car better, because it doesn't do that... OUCH!)."

Rochester has over 30 HD Radio stations:

http://www.ibiquity.com/hd_radio/hdradio_find_a_station?state=NY&sortBy=undefined#stationlist

Struble - you had better get that IPO off the ground soon, before word gets out!

 

[Carmine5]

Speaking of New York, in the Latest Crawford engineering newsletter, Brian Cunningham, CBRE Chief Engineer, CBC – Western New York reported the following on his unsuccessful attempts at finding HD Radios in his area:

"The rollout of HD Radio receivers continues to be stagnant in Western New York. It has been well over three years since HD was first introduced in our region. However, retailers have not bothered to educate sales associates with pertinent information about HD-R, how it works and benefits received from digital broadcasting. Store shelves in the Buffalo market remain void of any HD-R receivers, including retail giants Wal-Mart, Circuit City and Best Buy...

Radio Shack, which came on board early by stocking receivers in their stores, has all but forgotten about HD-R. It’s clearly apparent that retailers in this area have not been impressed with the benefits of digital broadcasting, are not backing it, and consider it to be a dead medium."

His solution? Kill off analog radio altogether.

http://www.crawfordbroadcasting.com/~cbc/Local_Oscillator/May 2008 Local Oscillator.pdf

C5

 

[calstymes]

GreedMongers aptly suggested:

Struble - you had better get that IPO off the ground soon, before word gets out! Cheesy

Finally. Somebody who understands what this is all about!

 

[Savage]

If my engineers (as is evidently the case with Crawford) had enough time on their hands to constantly gassify to each via a bloated corporate house organ ("The Local Oscillator") and send self-aggrandizing - and transparently silly - laughers to industry trade publications about HD Radio, I would conclude they don't have enough work to do. And, therefore, I would be looking to either see more productivity or make staff reductions.

From what I hear about the studio facilities at WLGZ, Crawford people would be better served properly designing and maintaining their local plants instead of pontificating to other broadcasters about "what we need."

 

[Savage]

BTW/FWIW: the iBiquity HD station roster for Rochester, NY is at least a year out of date, in some cases two years out of date. Analog formats are wrong for a number of stations, and several of the stations listed aren't programming subchannels any more (at least not regularly.) And there are numerous ownership changes which have not been updated.

I know that radio is rapidly changing and evolving. But if the iBiquity nitwits are going to put up a webpage purporting to offer "local HD station information" there should at least be an effort to keep it updated.

I concur that HD Radio units have just about disappeared from local shelves. The only HD Radios I could find in a recent shopping excursion were about three obvious returned-closeouts. All local Radio Shack stores I've visited have no Accurians and staffers report no more will be stocked. In fact the only HD products available at all appear to be car stereos which include HD as a "feature." HD as a product is not highlighted and the sales staff is for the most part completely unaware of the HD functionality.

I also concur with the host's retort "don't hold your breath" for an HD-FM digital power increase. The Crawford and Glynn Walden-types (e.g., those with an agenda having nothing to do with the betterment of radio) may be squeezing for it but there's a big fight within the NAB about the issue. The lawyers are nervous about the potential for litigation over interference problems

 

[Carmine5]

If my engineers (as is evidently the case with Crawford) had enough time on their hands to constantly gassify to each via a bloated corporate house organ ("The Local Oscillator") and send self-aggrandizing - and transparently silly - laughers to industry trade publications about HD Radio, I would conclude they don't have enough work to do. And, therefore, I would be looking to either see more productivity or make staff reductions.

From what I hear about the studio facilities at WLGZ, Crawford people would be better served properly designing and maintaining their local plants instead of pontificating to other broadcasters about "what we need."

I got a chuckle out of Mr. Cunningham's complaint that, "retailers have not bothered to educate sales associates with pertinent information about HD-R, how it works and benefits received from digital broadcasting."

He obviously knows little about retail sales. Retailers will only stock items they know customers want and will move quickly. The last thing a retailer needs is an albatross he/she has to mark down to move it or keeps getting returned as defective. Apparently, retailers have seen the latter to be the case with HD-R and are choosing not to stock those radios.

While it's true that a sales associate needs to know the features of a product should a customer have questions, the actual selling should have been done long before the customer walked in the door.

So the problem is not the retailers but iBiquity, the CE manufacturers and the HD Alliance for not educating the public on the benefits of HD-R, if there are any.

Or if Mr. Cunningham thinks these entities have done an adequate job in educating the public on HD-R, then the public has spoken...they don't want it and retailers are simply responding to that.

C5

 

[KB1OKL]

Maybe the problem was that they were educated on the ahemm.. benefits of IBOC, ;D
How can supposed smart people have their heads up so thoroughly you know where?
Shut off analog to force people to buy iBlock receivers which don't work? Yup that's a great idea. I bought an HD capable TV mainly because I liked the TV and knew HD would be big whether the fascist government we have now forced us to have it or not. You have a feeling for these things, just like I had a feeling that IBOC would go absolutely nowhere which has proven true even though there is a certain segment of self serving individuals who are hell bent into forcing us one way or another to buy iBlock whether or not we want it. It hasn't and will not work, it's kaput, finished, DOA, you don't have to be a genius to see that. Things either sell of their own volition eventually or they flop, HD has flopped big time, who can't see this? Oh yeah, the people who have their heads so throughly up you know where they can't see reality. Incidentally I have a small Sony Trinitron in my bedroom which has a picture that's clearer and has better color than any flat screened TV I've seen so far.

 

[Play Freebird]

I also concur with the host's retort "don't hold your breath" for an HD-FM digital power increase. The Crawford and Glynn Walden-types (e.g., those with an agenda having nothing to do with the betterment of radio) may be squeezing for it but there's a big fight within the NAB about the issue. The lawyers are nervous about the potential for litigation over interference problems

Before the Crawford people get too enthusiastic about this 10 dB increase, they should take a drive southwest of Rochester and listen to the digital interference to their 102.7 WLGZ, resulting from 102.5 WTSS in Buffalo.

For those of you unfamiliar with the western New York FM dial, WTSS (formerly WBEN-FM) is grandfathered at 11 dB above the normal Class B limit, so the current power of digital carriers transmitted on its first-adjacent channels is within 1 dB of the level at which all 50 kW/150 m Class Bs would be allowed if the proposed increase is adopted. So this makes an interesting "test station".

The interference is already quite noticeable along I-490 just a few miles west of the WLGZ site. Imagine the problems if WTSS is allowed someday to boost its digital power another 10 dB above the grandfathered level -- however, I doubt this would pass muster with Canada.