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HD radio false advertising - really!!

D

DaveBayArea

This is truly classic. I'm driving through the Central Valley in California near Stockton. Listening to 96.7, the local Clear Channel Active Rock station. On comes this commercial where a young lady says "I'm new in town and I need a boom box". The response is "Our town - where you just moved to - is great - we have HD Radio here, and you can go to Best Buy and buy this Insignia boom box with HD radio" blah...blah...blah...

So, first of all - the commercial is over-the-top cheesy. Yup. That's the first thing I want to buy when I move in somewhere - a boom box. But the best thing... 96.7 doesn't even broadcast in HD. I'm sure the spot was scheduled at Clear Channel Central somewhere and was heard on a dozen other stations along with the programming. But I had to laugh. I mean - what if somebody really DID go to their Best Buy and... Oh - never mind. It couldn't happen.

Dave B.
 
Sounds like some little 20-something ditz in a CC production room somewhere wrote that. I mean - when you move to a new town, what are your priorities? Which school is best? Where do I register to vote? Which bank do I select for my accounts? What's the best/most convenient grocery store? (Nah. Most people would say: "I need a new boom box!!") :D ::)

Who the hell listens to a BOOM BOX any more? (Let me revise my previous statement. It wasn't a little kid copywriter. It was some 50ish minimally-talented weekend voicetrack jock who got tossed the errand of "come up with some kind of HD Radio promo.")

I mean, when you're listening to a "boom box," you're typically firing up an old dusty chipped and paint-spattered radio with scratchy controls to listen while you clean the gutters or do some more painting, to make sure the board op doesn't screw up producing the game.
 
The first question you ask yourself if moving to Stockton is "where can I live away from the drive-by's?" ;D
 
Zach said:
Unless the central valley is completely devoid of HD radio, I don't see how it's false advertising.
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OK, yeah. I'll go with that. The ESPN AM station in Modesto runs HD, and so does the Crawford Christian group station, also AM. I didn't have the vehicle with the HD receiver when I was driving through, so I couldn't check real closely, but you could be right. I know for sure that 96.7 doesn't, because I got KOIT from San Francisco on 96.5 and KSEG from Sacramento on 96.9. Both very clearly & without interference. Stockton is kind of a weird market. All of the FM's are class A's except for K-love. So there isn't really enough power available to provide any kind of reasonable HD coverage.

Dave B.
 
I think the HD radio commercials are intentionally corny so that they are memorable.

This sounds like a nice way to pick up the ladies (or at least their boom box), just approach her and say "I'm new in town and I need a boom box"
 
DaveBayArea said:
All of the FM's are class A's except for K-love. So there isn't really enough power available to provide any kind of reasonable HD coverage.
Dave B.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of places like that. So we're supposed to accept a digital delivery system that only works in major markets? That doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
 
Nick!! Before you head out to happy hour to try the pickup line "I'm new in town, and I need a new boom box so I can get HD Radio," let me urge you to try something else. (I really am concerned about somebody pouring per drink down the front of your pants.)

Dress up as an elf. Then tell your prospect: "Hey, I can get you off the naughty list." :D

Or: "I know how to solder surface-mount components." (ANYTHING but a pickup line about HD Radio.)
 
Although technically not false advertising, when I was tuning the AM band one night recently I stumbled upon an HD Radio ad on WCBS 880. It went along the lines of saying if you want to hear WCBS in clear digital sound get an HD Radio and tune to 101.1 FM HD-3. It never mentioned the fact that 880 is buzzing most of the time.
 
Honestly, I suspect there's still a market for boom boxes, it's just manufacturers don't make nice ones anymore. Sure, you can go to Walmart and get a Coby that's a P.O.S. (Coby also makes one with HD, don't they?) but nowhere will you find a really nice unit anymore unless you can get your hands on a rare JVC Kaboom set (I've got one.)

As for false advertising, it's typical radio ignorance. My local FM talk station advertises itself against the Clear Channel 1 kW AM "blowtorch" as "crystal clear, digital FM stereo."

Except they don't broadcast in HD, so they aren't digital. And they don't broadcast in stereo. DUH. ::)
 
It sounds like to me that Ibiquity would like to have some people walking along the street, holding up their HD-equipped boom box, and the people around them hear HD signals drop out and return to analog and HD returns for a short period of time. Yeah, right.
 
ddsparxx said:
It sounds like to me that Ibiquity would like to have some people walking along the street, holding up their HD-equipped boom box, and the people around them hear HD signals drop out and return to analog and HD returns for a short period of time. Yeah, right.
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OK seriously, nobody does that anymore. That's what earbuds are for. We're not in 1983 anymore.

Boom boxes are for filling limited personal space with music. Think light industrial factories (where I carried mine daily for years), bedrooms, kitchens, the garage, maybe the pool or beach; places where the radio is stationary when it's actually on.
 
Zach said:
Boom boxes are for filling limited personal space with music. Think light industrial factories (where I carried mine daily for years), bedrooms, kitchens, the garage, maybe the pool or beach; places where the radio is stationary when it's actually on.
Click to expand...

I find I still need to do that. There are lots of times I like to listen to the radio, but I don't want to wear headphones or earbuds which prevent me from hearing other things.

And yes, I still have a working boombox which gets regular use.
 
Zach said:
Honestly, I suspect there's still a market for boom boxes, it's just manufacturers don't make nice ones anymore. Sure, you can go to Walmart and get a Coby that's a P.O.S. (Coby also makes one with HD, don't they?) but nowhere will you find a really nice unit anymore unless you can get your hands on a rare JVC Kaboom set (I've got one.)

As for false advertising, it's typical radio ignorance. My local FM talk station advertises itself against the Clear Channel 1 kW AM "blowtorch" as "crystal clear, digital FM stereo."

Except they don't broadcast in HD, so they aren't digital. And they don't broadcast in stereo. DUH. ::)
Click to expand...

A lot of kids going to college will buy one because it takes up little space in a crowded dorm or apartment. A lot of room filling sound in a small, inexpensive unit.

Of course maybe now they are realizing the HD radio will always be a niche market, and are now trying to advertise to the very audiophiles they ridiculed years ago. People who started with boom boxes, and graduated to good audio gear before it was gone.
 
pberger said:
Ever hire a carpenter for a day or two? First thing on the job is his boom box and a saw horse.

And Sony has several boom boxes in their line. Check www.sonystyle.com
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I can confirm that - I've had ones that know me well ask if they can borrow my GE Superadio. They enjoy listening to the Mexican stations that are 300 to 400 miles from Houston on 580 and 620. I should really sell them one - for a couple of hundred dollars or free carpentry.

In all seriousness, though, carpenters are not going to care about HD radio. The contractors I hire don't even care about stereo. They don't even care about a little static when they saw. They care about content, which is their station from over the border. HD radio in a boom box? Don't make me laugh!
 
The last few contractors I've had around here had those toolbox stereos by Ridgid, Milwaukee, et al. They're AM-FM-CD units with aux inputs for mp3s and iPods, all housed in a reinforced road case with weatherproof speakers and controls. I had a landscaping team here for abour four days and they were playing one of these in the parking lot; they're like freaking PA systems. I had to ask them to pipe down with it (they were listening to some R-rated morning show) because it was so loud is was bleeding through the storm windows into the studios.

HD? Of course not. Sound quality isn't a concern. They just want to laugh about Stern and his strippers...from 25 feet away from the speakers.
 
Savage said:
Nick!! Before you head out to happy hour to try the pickup line "I'm new in town, and I need a new boom box so I can get HD Radio," let me urge you to try something else. (I really am concerned about somebody pouring per drink down the front of your pants.)

Dress up as an elf. Then tell your prospect: "Hey, I can get you off the naughty list." :D

Or: "I know how to solder surface-mount components." (ANYTHING but a pickup line about HD Radio.)
Click to expand...

"Hey babe, I'm new in town. I just heard there's HD radio available here, and I need a new boom box." Should I say that at a Best Buy or at a bar?
 
Well, I'd say "neither," but note that the possible results you can expect will be different.

At BB you'll get this from the Blue Shirt: ??? ??? ???

At happy hour you could get anything from "Cute, Tex, but the vocational training center is down the street" to "Yeah, and I need to hook up with a handsome millionaire, so don't block the view" to....yep, the good ol' drink down your pants.

Please report back on how your HD pick-up line worked out. We prurient types want to know.
 
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